THE  LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


REMINISCENCES 

OF 

EARLY  FREE  METHODISM 


...BY... 

REV.    EDWARD    PAYSON    HART 

Senior  General  Superintendent 
Of  the  Free  Methodist  Church  of  North  America 


WITH 

AN  INTRODUCTION 

BY 

REV.  BURTON  R.  JONES 


CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS. 

Free  Methodist  Publishing  House 

14  North  May  Street 

19C3 


\  t 


s'/'n 


DEDICATION. 
To  the  Memory  of  Rev.  Benjamin 
Titus  Roberts,  which   is   as   oint- 
ment poured  forth,  this  book  is 
affection  a  teljr  dedica  ted. 

The  Author. 


PREFACE. 

At  the  earnest  request  of  the  editor  of  the  Free 
Methodist  much  of  the  matter  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing pages  was  originally  prepared  for  publication  in 
that  paper.  The  writer  had  no  thought  that  the 
articles  would  ever  appear  in  book  form.  But  as 
many  of  the  readers  of  the  sketches,  as  they  appeared 
in  the  Free  Methodist,  have  expressed  a  desire  to  have 
them  in  a  more  convenient  and  durable  form  I  have 
by  advice  of  our  publishing  agents  consented  to  their 
publication,  and  have  revised  the  matter  as  it  origi- 
nally appeared,  adding  several  entirely  new  chapters. 
As  to  literary  merit  these  pages  are  not  open  to 
criticism  since  no  claim  in  that  direction  is  made. 

Another  volume  giving  a  more  general  account 
of  the  work  East  and  West  is  contemplated. 
Alameda,  Cat.  E.  P.  Hart. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Chapter  I.:  Origin  of  Free  Methodist  Church— B.  T. 
Roberts,  L.  Stiles,  J.  McCreery  and  Others  Ex- 
pelled from  Genesee  Conference  of  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church— Roberts'  Appeal  Denied  by- 
General  Conference— Preaching  of  J.  W.  Redfield 
Important  Factor  in  Formation  of  Church— Doctor 
Redfield  Labors  at  Saint  Charles,  Illinois— The 
Way  Opened  for  the  Doctor's  Work  at  Marengo, 
Illinois,  by  a  Dream— Some  at  Marengo  Who 
Knew  God— A  Mother's  Protracted  Meeting- 
Joseph  G.  Terrill  Converted— Doctor  Redfield 
Labors  at  Elgin,  Illinois— J.  G.  Terrill  Receives 
Increased  Light— Tribute  to  Joseph  G.  Terrill— 
C.  E.  Harroun  Saved,  Becomes  a  Strong  Preacher.         1-9 

Chapter  II.:  Doctor  Redfield  Begins  Meeting  at 
Marengo — Young  Lawyer  Invited  to  the  First  Ser- 
vice—Fear that  the  Doctor  May  Fail  Through 
Embarrassment— Fear  Dispelled  and  a  Young  Con- 
vert Dazzled  by  Light— Doctor's  Manner,  Preaching 
and  Prayers— Odd  Character  Startles  Congregation 
—Many  Rush  to  the  Altar— Young  Methodist  Girl 
Gels  Fully  Saved— Alone  with  the  Doctor— Rather 
Searching  Questions— Young  Converts  Discouraged 
— Tide  Soon  Turns— Sweeping  Revival— Need  of  a 
Fog-Splitter— Village  Drayman  Saved— Lawyer's 
Wife  Gets  Salvation 10-18 

Chapter  III.:  Doctor  Redfield  Preaches  at  Wood- 
stock—Brings the  Pastor  to  the  Point— I.  H.  Fair- 


VI 11  CONTENTS 

childs — Work  Opposed  at  Saint  Charles — Transi- 
tion of  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — Pastor  How- 
ard, of  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Reads  Out 
Members  Without  Trial — Doctor  Redfield  Denied 
Methodist  Episcopal  Pulpit — Universalist  Church  is 
Secured  —  Rally  of  Holiness  People  —  Benjamin 
Hackney — Great  Sermon— Persecuted  Saints  Rent 
Hall  and  Send  for  Joseph  Terrill — Meeting  afClin- 
tonville — Work  at  Vermont  Street,  etc.,  Increases 
in  Power — Work  at  Franklinville  Church — Pre- 
siding Elder  Warns  the  People — Preacher  in  Charge 
Changes  Front — People  Petition  for  Change  of 
Preachers — Both  Senior  and  Junior  Preachers 
Returned — Father  Bishop  Opens  His  House  for 
Holiness  Meeting — Preacher  in  Charge  Tries  to  Get 
Control  of  Meeting — The  Best  Family — Meetings 
Opened  in  Brick  Schoolhouse — Large  Methodist 
Episcopal  Class  Formed — Father  Bishop's  Family 
Attend — They  are  Cited  for  Trial — Unjustly  Con- 
demned—Expelled— Preacher  in  Close  Place — 
Form  Earnest  Christian  Band — Forty  Days'  Fast. .  19-27 
Chapter  IV.:  Writer  Feels  His  Need  of  Salvation — 
Infidel  Lawyer  Settles  the  Question — An  Earnest 
Seeker— Makes  Preparations  to  Attend  School  of 
the  Prophets  —  Plans  Thwarted — One  of  God's 
Doctors  of  Divinity — Seeking  the  Experience  of 
Entire  Sanctification — Trying  Tests — Way  Opens 
to  Preach — Secretary  of  Lodge— Intellectual  Cul- 
ture Desirable  —  Licensed  to  Preach  —  Receives 
Works  of  Edward  Payson — The  Converted  Black- 
smith— No  Lack  of  Confidence — He  is  Killed  in 
Battle  Before  Richmond — Hooper  Crews — Appoint- 
ment as  Junior  Preacher  on  Lynnville  Circuit — 
Brother  Campbell  Preacher  in  Charge— Meetings  in 
Kendrick  Schoolhouse— Aunt  Polly  Kendrick — 
Demonstrations  Annoy  Preacher  in  Charge— Grove 
Meeting  at  Lynnville— Send  for  Seymour  Coleman 


CONTENTS  ix 

—First  Meeting  with  Joseph  Travis— Storm  Stayed 

by  Prayer — Hotel  Keeper's  Wife  Angry 28-39 

Chapter  V.:  Rev.  Travis  Stops  at  Lynnville — Visits 
Methodist  Episcopal  Camp-Meeting  in  Wisconsin 
— A  Runaway — Reach  Camp-Ground— Meet  Brother 
Fox — Introduced  to  Presiding  Elder — Looked  Upon 
with  Some  Degree  of  Suspicion — Preach  but  Once 
— Start  for  Saint  Charles,  Illinois,  Camp-Meeting — 
Stop  at  Marengo,  Illinois — A  Tempting  Offer 
Rejected — Reach  Saint  Charles  Camp-Ground 
Early  Friday  Morning — Introduced  Brother  Travis 
to  Doctor  Redfield— First  Meeting  with  Rev.  B.  T. 
Roberts — Power  of  God  Present  at  Meeting — Some 
Degree  of  Wildness — Seymour  Coleman  Explains 
Extravagances — Bishop  Girl  Sings  "Gideon" — Mar- 
ried to  Bishop  Girl — Brother  Travis  Joins  the  New 
Church — Is  Sent  to  Saint  Louis — Take  Wife  to 
Circuit  —  Good  Sister  Thinks  Bride  is  Rather 
Plainly  Attired — Good  Service  on  Sabbath — Visit 
Lynnville  Appointment  —  Hotel  Keeper's  Wife 
Pleads  for  Universalists — Return  to  Marengo  at 
Close  of  Conference  Year — Notify  Presiding  Elder 
to  Drop  Name  from  Conference — No  Appointment 
Ready  in  New  Church — Decide  to  Step  into  First 
Open  Door 40-49 

Chapter  VI.:  Political  Excitement  of  Fall  of  i860 — 
Door  Unexpectedly  Opens  to  Preach  at  Belvidere, 
Illinois — David  Cooper  and  John  Horan — Appoint- 
ment in  Universalist  Church  at  Belvidere — Lucius 
Matlack  Yields  Pulpit — Doctor  Redfield  Preaches 
Sabbath  Evening  to  Large  Congregation — Accom- 
pany the  Doctor  and  Wife  to  Ogle  County — Brother 
Terrill  had  Raised  up  a  Work  There — J.  W.  Dake 
and  Others  Enter  the  Work — Doctor  Redfield  Goes 
on  to  Aurora,  Illinois — Is  Stricken  Down  with  Par- 
alysis— Secure  Congregation-alist  Church  at  Belvi- 
dere— Large  Congregations — Form  Class  and  Pur- 


X  CONTENTS 

chase  Church  Property — Discipline  Adopted  at 
Clintonville — James  Mathews  Takes  the  Work  at 
Belvidere — Go  to  Marengo — Commence  Meetings 
in  Street — Finally  Secure  Metropolitan  Hall — Judah 
Mead  Holds  Quarterly  Meeting — A  Loud  Time — 
Open  Doors  of  Church — Three  Join — Village  Dray- 
man Joins  Later — Buy  Lot — Move  Back  Old  House 
and  Make  a  Church  of  it — Build  Permanent  House 
of  Worship  in  the  Spring — Fearful  Tornado — Con- 
ference Appoints  to  Saint  Charles,  etc 50-57 

Chapter  VH.:  Incidents  of  Work  at  Belvidere  and 
Marengo — Discipline  Forbids  Secrecy — Convinced 
that  Oath-Bound  Secret  Orders  are  Wrong — Getting 
Out  of  the  Lodge .     58-64 

Chapter  VHL:  Pleasant  Year  at  Saint  Charles — Meet- 
ings in  Old  Court  House  at  Geneva — German  Man 
and  Wife  Saved  from  Catholicism — Child  Sick  but 
Get  Encouragement— Saloon  Keeper  Convicted — 
Set  About  Building  Church — Plans  Enlarged— Prop- 
erty Sold— Onslaught  of  Roughs  at  Saint  Charles 
Camp-Meeting  —  Newell  Day  Injured  —  Ordained 
Deacon  at  Clintonville  Fall  of  i860— Requested  to 
go  to  Michigan — Sent  to  Marengo  with  Understand- 
ing I  am  to  Visit  Michigan — Return  to  Marengo — 
Rev.  J.  W.  Redfield  Dies— Brother  Roberts  Attends 
Funeral  at  Marengo — Impressive  Scene  at  Funeral 
— Doctor  Redfield's  Testimony — Steps  Over  into 
Heaven— Illinois  Conference  Assumes  Respectable 
Proportions — CyrusUnderwood— J.  W.  Dake  Raises 
up  Work  in  Bureau  County — Joseph  Travis — N.  D. 
Fanning— Thomas  LaDue— M.  V.  Clute 65-79 

Chapter  IX.:  C.  E.  Harroun's  Reason  for  not  Going 
to  Church  to  Preach — Great  Storm— Arrange  to 
Visit  Michigan — Failed  in  Getting  Rates  from  Chi- 
cago, but  Got  an  Incident — Picture  of  Imagination 
not  Realized — Gloomy  Outlook — Wife  Keeps  up 
Courage— Find  House  of  Father  Jones— A  Hearty 


CONTENTS  Xi 

Welcome— Attend  Methodist  Episcopal  Conformist 
Church— How  the  Way  was  Opened  for  Free  Meth- 
odism in  Michigan — Meeting  at  Milan  well  Attended 
—Favorable  Impression  of  Free  Methodist  Church 
— Sister  Lewis  Lays  Aside  Bonnet  Trimmed  with 
Artificials,  Puts  on  Veil  and  Comes  to  the  Com- 
munion—Hold Meetings  in  Father  Jones'  Neigh- 
borhood—Happy Jimmy 80-90 

Chapter  X.:  Visit  Otter  Creek— Cold  Reception— Stop 
at  Rum  Tavern — Visit  from  House  to  House— Find 
People  Nearly  all  Lutherans  or  Catholics— Have 
Family  Prayers  with  Landlord  and  Wife— Wife  an 
Old  Once-in-grace-always-in-grace  Backslider — 
Return  to  Ida  Station— "If  Man  Living  Here  Should 
Get  Saved  it  would  Stir  this  whole  Country"— Get- 
ting Homesick— Determined  to  Make  or  Break — 
Commence  in  Plues  Schoolhouse— Decide  to  Hold 
Afternoon  Meetings  in  Private  Houses — House  of 
John  Plues  Open— Away  to  Attend  Funeral— Sister 
Hart  Leads  Meeting  at  House  of  Plues— Encounters 
Sneering  Scoffer— Scoffer  Cornered  and  Begins  to 
Break — John  Plues— Mrs.  Plues  Gets  Blessed— 
Forbid  to  Read  Bible  and  Pray  — "Samantha, 
do  You  Think  Those  Preachers  would  Come  and 
Pray  for  Me?" — Sister  Plues  Calls  at  Timothy  G.'s 
for  Preachers — "Timothy,  John  wants  you  to  come, 
too"— Choker  for  Timothy— Preacher  Caught  up — 
"Am  I  in  the  Straight  Way?"— Praying  for  Neigh- 
bors—Start Out  to  Pray  with  Neighbors— Nearly 
all  the  Neighbors  Break  and  Get  Saved— Plues 
Opens  His  House  to  Entertain  Preachers — Laborers 
Raised  up— Elsworth  Leonardson— Confessing  a 
Call  to  Preach— Soon  at  it— Meeting  Classes— Plan 
to  go  Home— "You  have  Got  Us  into  this  Boat  and 
You  must  see  Us  Through" — "By  the  Grace  of  God 
We  will"— Return  to  Illinois— Meet  with  Opposition 
in  Going  Back  to  Michigan— Brother  Roberts  Sane- 


Xll  CONTENTS 

tions  Our  Return— C.  S.  Gitchell  Takes  Work  at 
Marengo 91-106 

Chapter  XL:  Stop  at  Mishawaka,  Indiana — Go  on  to 
Osseo — Disappointed  in  Appointment — Baby  Sick 
— A  Dilemma — Lord  Opens  the  Way — Methodist 
Pastor  Greets  Us— An  Old  Friend— Baby  Better — 
A  Fruitful  Valentine— Little  Heathen  Shown— Mrs. 
Frink  Breaks  Down  and  Gets  Saved — Grove-Meet- 
ing in  Plues  Neighborhood — Party  from  Hillsdale 
County — Brother  Roberts  Does  not  Arrive — Put  up 
a  Man  to  Preach — People  Take  Him  for  Our  Bishop 
— Are  Disappointed — Go  to  Plues'  Ball-room  to  Get 
Ready  to  Preach — "Glory  to  God,  Brother  Hart, 
Roberts  Has  Come!" — Hasten  to  Grove — Brother 
Roberts  Refuses  to  Preach— But  Exhorts— Hills- 
dale Party  Anxious  to  Join — Go  to  Saint  Charles 
Camp-meeting — On  Return  Stop  at  Hillsdale — 
Refuse  to  Organize  Class — Return  to  Plues  Neigh- 
borhood— Urged  to  Visit  Hillsdale — Cannot,  for 
Want  of  Means — Money  Provided — Decide  to  Go — 
Sister  Coon  Meets  Us  at  Hillsdale — Meeting  at 
Steamburg — John  Ellison  and  Wife  Get  Light 107-121 

Chapter  XH.:  Brother  Ellison  Attends  Sabbath  After- 
noon Appointment — He  Attends  Grove-Meeting  at 
Ida — Gets  Fully  Saved — Attend  Illinois  Conference 
at  Saint  Charles — Memorial  Services  for  J.  W.  Red- 
field  and  Ira  G.  Gould — Report  of  Committee  on 
State  of  the  Work—Return  to  Ida— W.  D.  Bishop 
and  Wife  go  to  Michigan— "Lord  Jesus,  Drive  Back 
Powers  of  Hell!" — Revival  Breaks  Out — Hold  on 
for  Four  Weeks — Signs  and  Wonders 122-132 

Chapter  XIIL:  Open  Work  on  Huron  River— Hunter 
Convicted — Uncle  Horace  Ash — Jim's  Team  on  the 
Altar — Uncle  Johnny  Clark  Saved — One  of  His 
Later  Testimonies — John  Ellison  Preaches  Holiness 
— Becomes  Unpopular — Dismissed  from  Pastorate 
— Some  of  His  Members  Stand  by  Him— Called  to 


CONTENTS  Xlll 

Organize  Class  Where  Brother  Ellison  Preaches— 
"Go  Ahead,  Brother  Hart,  I'll  go  the  Whole  Hog"— 
Good  Advice  Received — Work  Spreads  into  Branch 
County — Sylvester  Forbes — Selling  Soul  for  Pail  of 
Sap— Thou  Art  the  Man— Scruples  About  Baptism 
Removed— Powerful  Camp-Meetings— On  the  "Old 
Line" 133-142 

Chapter  XIV.:  Attend  Bergen,  New  York,  Camp- 
Meeting —  Loren  Stiles — Fay  Purdy — Blind  Henry — 
Joseph  McCreery — Try  to  Preach — Introduced  to 
McCreery — Was  that  You  "Hollerin'  so  Out  There?" 
— Joseph  and  Benjamin — "A  Living  Christ" — Meet- 
ing at  White  Church — Spirit  of  Dead  Indian — 
Preach  on  Spiritualism — Great  Break — Sister  Hart 
Dreams  of  Serpent — Medium's  Daughter  Saved — 
Return  to  Illinois — Help  in  Meeting  at  Aurora — 
"Girl,  All  Doing  Well"— Fail  to  Catch  the  Train- 
Short  of  Funds — Lack  made  up — Attend  Illinois 
Conference  at  Marengo— Go  to  Morenci,  Michigan, 
to  Open  Work — Brothers  Osgood  and  Goss — Get 
Appointment  in  Campbellite  Swamp — Come  Out 
Ahead — Conclude  to  Remove  to  Monroe  County — 
Snow-Bound 143-1 59 

Chapter  XV.:  Michigan  Conference  Organized — 
Lively  Camp-Meeting — County  Papers  have  a  con- 
troversy —  Work  Advertised  —  Short  Conference 
Year — First  Free  Methodist  Church  in  Michigan 
Built — Joseph  Travis  Presides  at  Session  of  Confer- 
ence— Dedicates  Church — Preacher's  Necessities 
Met — Gray  Family — Elected  with  John  Plues  to 
General  Conference — Police  Come  in — C.  H,  Love- 
joy  Admitted  on  His  Picture — J.  McCreery  Admit- 
ted on  His  Face — J.  McCreery  Delegate  to  General 
Conference  —  Log  Rolling — Last  Characteristic 
Speech  of  Joseph  McCreery 160-167 

Chapter  XVI. :  Work  at  Windsor,  Ohio— Quite  a  Scene 
at  Christmas  Eve  Service — Going  Through  with 


XIV  CONTENTS 

Flying  Colors — Family  Separated — ''Lord  Only 
Knows  Whether  We'll  All  get  Together  Again" — 
Hold  Meeting  at  Coldwater,  Michigan — Spiritualists 
and  Mormons  Try  to  Ring  in — Seeing  Devils — Start 
for  Marengo,  Illinois — Train  too  Slow — Edson  A. 
Kimball — Cyrus  Underwood  Holds  Meeting  at 
Elgin,  Illinois — Change  Work  with  Brother  Under- 
wood— Stumbling  Stone  Johnson — Attend  Michigan 
Conference  at  Coldwater — Illinois  Conference  Held 
at  Elgin — President  of  Wheaton  College  Visits  Con- 
ference   168-178 

Chapter  XVII.:  Work  Spreads  in  Illinois  Conference 
— D.  P.  Reed — Brother  and  Sister  Dudman — Lewis 
Bailey  —  Third  Session  Michigan  Conference  — 
"W.  D.  Bishop  and  One  to  be  Supplied" — Confer- 
ence Session  af  White  Church — B.  R.  Jones  Joins 
on  Trial — Is  Ordained — Elected  Chairman — Editor 
— General  Superintendent — Work  Opens  at  Cooper- 
ville,  Michigan — W.  R.  Cusick — Hold  Meeting  in 
Congregational  Church  —  Revival  Breaks  Out  — 
Leading  Ladies  in  Town  Earnestly  Seeking — Uncle 
Tom  and  Aunt  Rhoda  Watson — Lord  Breaks  Down 
Opposition  to  Work — Work  Prospers  at  Coopers- 
ville  —  New  Church  Built  —  Spreads  East  —  Hold 
Quarterly  Meeting  in  Log  Schoolhouse,  Fifteen 
Minutes  Intermission  Between  the  Logs 179-187 

Chapter  XVIII. :  Grove-Meeting  at  Berlin,  Michigan 
—North  Woods  Full  of  Them— In  Fall  1870  Confer- 
ence Held  at  Holland,  Ohio— Appointed  to  Toledo 
District — John  Ellison  Appointed  to  Grand  Rapids 
District — Meeting  Near  Concord,  Michigan — Meet- 
ings at  Eckford— A.  V.  Leonardson  Appointed  to 
Concord  and  Eckford — Attention  Called  to  Old 
School  Property  at  Spring  Arbor — Session  of  Con- 
ference Appointed  to  Concord  Work  but  Held  at 
Spring  Arbor — Fears  About  Entertainment — Con- 
ference Well  Cared  for— Brother  Roberts  Meets 


CONTENTS  XV 

Old  College  Chum— Committee  Appointed  to  Locate 
School — Conference  at  Delta,  Ohio — Work  There — 
Dedicate  Church  at  Delta — Meetings  in  Toledo, 
Ohio — Work  Opens  in  Madison,  Michigan — Lafay- 
ette Reed 188-198 

Chapter  XIX.:  Conference  at  Delta,  Ohio — Spring 
Arbor  School — Laid  by  for  a  Rest — Providentially 
Cared  for — Life  Despaired  of — Lord  Undertakes — 
Striking  Vision — Location  of  School  Decided  on — 
Teachers  Secured  —  Tramp  Rescued  —  Becomes 
Tutor  to  Our  Future  Principal — The  First  Faculty — 
California  Boys  Helped — Our  Schools  a  Blessing.  ..199-212 

Chapter  XX.:  Start  Out  on  District  Work— Meeting 
at  Jackson,  Michigan — A  Prophecy  Fulfilled — 
Conference  Session  at  Coopersville — Remarkable 
Sermon — General  Conferences — J.  Mackey  Takes 
Free  Methodist — General  Conference  at  Albion, 
New  York — Elected  General  Superintendent 213-221 

Chapter  XXL:  Attend  Meetings  in  Pennsylvania — 
Clifford  Barrett — Franklin,  Pennsylvania,  Camp- 
Meeting — J.B.Corey — Boys  in  the  Pit — Way  Opens 
to  Summerfield,  Ohio — Visit  Attica,  Lawrenceburg, 
Indiana,  etc. — Cincinnati,  Ohio — Turning  the  Hose 
on  Them — Go  on  to  Summerfield — Receive  Hearty 
Welcome — Church  Already  Built — J.  M.  Rounds — 
Dr.  Taylor 222-230 

Chapter  XXII. :  The  New  Preacher  and  Wife— Large 
Congregations  —  Truth  Takes  Hold  —  Sorry  Hart 
Came — Decide  to  Bring  Matters  to  a  Focus — 
Brought  to  a  Decision — Earnest  Seekers — Inappro- 
priate Singing — Meetings  from  11  a.  m.  to  11  p.  m. 
— Slain  of  the  Lord  are  Many— Footprints  of  J.  B. 
Finley — Billy  Barnes — Jennie  H. — Demonstrations 
Nothing  New — Blacksmith  Converted — He  Gets 
Light  on  Entire  Holiness — Open  Church  Doors — 
Meetings  at  Freedom,  East  Union,  etc. — Frail 
Woman    Makes    a    Stir— Old    Local    Preacher— 


XVI  CONTENTS 

Classes  Organized  in  Noble  County— W.  H.  James 
Given  Charge — Preaches  at  Perryopolis — J.  W. 
Headly  and  Wife— Church  Door  Locked— "Let 
Them  Go"— Sister  Headly  Joins— Brother  Headly 
Joins  on  Probation — Licensed — Becomes  District 
Elder 231-242 

Chapter  XXHL:  First  Experience  in  Presiding  at 
Eastern  Conferences  — Asa  Abell  — "Don't  Sing 
That"— Responsibility  Felt— John  Reddy— At  the 
Centennial  Exposition  —  Camp-meeting  at  Sala- 
manca, N.  Y.— R.  W.  Hawkins— Standing  for  the 
Old  Landmarks — Spirit  Poured  Out  at  Reading  of 
Hymn— West  Randolph,  N.  Y.— Meetings  in  Bap- 
tist Church— Stir  Among  Infidels  and  Baptists- 
Miss  Ella  Hapgood— Young  Convert  Wins  a  Uni- 
versalist  Family 243-249 

Chapter  XXIV.:  At  Oberlin,  O.— Crowded  Hall— Col- 
lege Chapel  and  Finney's  Church— Finney's  The- 
ology—Devoted and  Meek  Saints— Burlington,  Iowa 
— M.  L.  Vorhies  comes  on — A  Tramp  Preacher — 
Brother  Vorheis'  Railroad  Song — German  Catholic 
Old  Lady— John  Burg— Church  Built  on  North  Hill 
—General  Conference  of  1882  Held  here— San  Jose 
California— Vacant  Store  Rented— Street  Meetings 
With  Ross  Taylor — Interested  Englishman — He 
Wishes  to  Join — "Nothing  will  Trouble  me  but  the 
Smoke"— Brother  Brown's  Will  — Growth  of  the 
Church  Remarkable— Many  Men  and  Women  of 
Noble  Character 250-259 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 

At  different  periods  in  the  history  of  the  church 
crises  have  arisen  at  which  it  became  necessary  for 
God  to  thrust  out  extraordinary  men,  ''endued  with 
power  from  on  high,"  to  change  existing  moral  con- 
ditions. These  men,  sent  of  God,  have  gone  forth  as 
the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  ''Prepare 
ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  his  paths  straight." 

The  Free  Methodist  movement  was  born  of  a 
divine  purpose.  After  the  natural  conservator  of 
Methodism  had  lapsed  into  formality  and  worldli- 
ness  God  placed  his  seal  of  authority  upon  a  few 
holy  men  and  sent  them  forth  to  awaken  the  slum- 
bering energies  of  the  church  and  the  world  and 
exemplify  a  type  of  piety  at  once  deep,  wholesome 
and  consistent.  Evidently  this  movement  was  of 
God  and  its  leaders  divinely  commissioned.  Yet  its 
right  to  an  existence  has  been  repeatedly  challenged, 
and  it  has  been  cast  into  a  furnace  of  criticism  heated 
seven  times  hotter  than  for  any  other  church  of  the 
last  half  century,  but  it  has  thus  far  escaped  even 
the  smell  of  fire  on  its  sacred  garments.  The  result 
of  these  testings  has  been,  and  should  ever  be,  to 


xviii  Introductory  Note 

keep  its  adherents  humble  before  God  and  inspire 
them  to  pursue  with  even  greater  intensity  the 
course  outlined  at  the  beginning. 

The  mission  of  this  book  is  to  call  the  attention 
of  its  readers  to  the  important  lessons  taught  by  the 
past  history  of  the  church,  to  note  the  warnings  that 
it  conveys  for  the  future,  and  thus  safely  fortify 
against  the  perils  that  threaten  the  life  of  the  church. 
History  affords  examples  of  churches  which  have 
"triumphed  over  adversity  but  could  not  bear  the 
test  of  success." 

The  encouraging  results  already  attained  should 
inspire  the  church  with  a  firmer  faith  in  God  and  in 
the  means  employed  for  the  promotion  of  his  work, 
and  with  a  spirit  of  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  those 
Bible  principles  so  closely  related  to  our  denomina- 
tional existence. 

But  the  church  cannot  live  on  past  history.  "The 
mill  will  never  grind  with  the  water  that  has  passed." 
There  must  be  aggression  along  legitimate  lines. 
"To  maintain  the  Bible  standard  of  religion,"  to  seek 
the  salvation  of  all  classes  and  to  spread  scriptural 
holiness  has  ever  been,  and  should  ever  be,  the  mis- 
sion of  the  Free  Methodist  church. 

To  the  many  in  and  out  of  the  church  who  will 
read  these  reminiscences  the  author  needs  no  intro- 
duction.    And  with  many  of  these  a  personal  ac- 


Introductory  Note  xix 

quaintance  with  him  and  knowledge  of  his  ministry 
of  over  forty  years  will  insure  to  the  book  a  hearty 
greeting. 

The  author  of  this  volume  writes  from  personal 
experience  and  observation  in  the  ministry  of  the 
Free  Methodist  church.  Having  been  closely  re- 
lated to  the  Free  Methodist  movement  from  its 
beginning,  few  men  living  are  as  competent  as  he  is 
to  throw  light  on  the  practical  events  connected  with 
the  rise  and  progress  of  the  church.  He  has  not 
attempted  to  discuss  opinions  and  methods,  but  sim- 
ply to  relate  facts  and  narrate  events.  His  extreme 
modesty  would  not  admit  of  his  saying  much  of 
himself  or  of  his  relation  to  the  revivals  he  reports. 
He  has  entered  no  further  into  the  relation  of  the 
events  of  his  own  life  than  seemed  necessary  to  give 
an  intelligent  account  of  the  religious  movement 
with  which  he  stands  so  closely  related. 

In  early  manhood  Mr.  Hart  made  choice  of  the 
law  as  a  profession,  to  the  study  of  which  he  applied 
himself  for  a  short  period.  Soon  after  his  conver- 
sion he  received  a  divine  call  to  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel.  He  responded  to  the  call,  and  thus  his 
gifts  and  capabilities  were  preserved  for  the  upbuild- 
ing of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  With  the  divine 
commission  written  in  living  letters  of  light  over  the 
entrance  of  his  lifework,  he  bade  a  final  adieu  to 


XX  Introductory  Note 

every  worldly  ambition  and  identified  himself  with  a 
movement  under  conditions  which  enabled  him  to 
assist  in  building  from  the  foundation  up  an  organ- 
ization which  was  fully  committed  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  fundamental  principle  of  Methodism. 

Of  his  extraordinary  ability  to  adapt  the  truth  of 
God  to  the  necessities  of  mankind,  of  his  earnestness 
and  eloquence,  I  need  make  no  mention.  He  is 
well  known  throughout  the  church  as  an  efficient 
evangelist  and  an  able  minister  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  The  redemption  of  mankind  and  the  build- 
ing up  of  the  church  in  righteousness  and  true  holi- 
ness has  ever  been  the  master  passion  of  his  heart. 
Ably  assisted  by  his  devoted,  consecrated  wife,  he 
has  led  the  hosts  of  the  Lord  from  conquering  to 
conquest,  brought  heavenly  balm  to  many  a  sorrow- 
ing heart,  and  been  instrumental  in  turning  many  to 
righteousness  who  will  one  day  shine  among  the 
stars  in  the  celestial  firmament. 

This  brief  outline,  covering  a  space  of  about 
twenty-two  years,  bears  upon  its  face  the  marks  of  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  origin  and  mission  of  the 
Free  Methodist  church.  The  doctrines  preached 
and  the  measures  employed  could  but  insure  the 
purity  and  permanence  of  the  work  wrought.  The 
author  has  endeavored  to  fix  the  attention  of  the 
reader  upon  the  various  influences  which  have  aided 


Introductory  Note  xxi 

in  moulding  our  denominational  character  and  pro- 
ducing our  distinctive  features. 

The  careful  study  of  this  book  is  important  to 
the  proper  development  of  the  church.  How  can 
the  younger  members  of  the  church  fully  appreciate 
what  they  enjoy  unless  they  know  how  it  came  to  be? 

The  present  generation  of  the  church  should  be 
armed  with  those  qualities  that  make  for  spiritual 
success. 

This  volume  will  prove  valuable  to  all  who  are 
interested  in  the  higher  spiritual  development  of  the 
church  at  large.  It  is  offered  with  the  sincere  hope 
that  its  readers  may  profit  by  the  lessons  which  the 
past  history  of  the  church  teaches,  and  place  a 
higher  value  upon  the  precious  heritage  of  gospel 
liberty  which  is  handed  down  to  us  in  trust  for  the 
generations  which  are  to  follow. 

Burton  R.  Jones. 
Jackson^  Michigan  y  April y  190$, 


REMINISCENCES  OF 

EARLY  FREE  METHODISM. 


CHAPTER  I. 


"There  are  moments  in  life  that  are  never  forgot, 
Which  brighten  and  brighten  as  time  steals  away; 

Oh!  these  hallowed  remembrances  cannot  decay, 
But  they  come  on  the  soul  with  a  magical  thrill, 

And  in  days  that  are  darkest  they  kindly  will  stay, 
And  the  heart  in  its  last  throbs  will  beat  with  them  still." 

"The  Free  Methodist  church  had  its  origin  in  neces- 
sity and  not  in  choice."  Its  existence  is  not  due  to 
the  efforts  of  ambitious  men  who  sought  notoriety 
by  founding  a  new  sect,  but  rather  to  the  self-denying 
labors  of  those  who  took  care  of  the  conscience  and 
left  results  with  God."  What  are  usually  referred  to 
as  "our  issues"  are  incidental  rather  than  fundamental. 
The  men  providentially  raised  up  as  the  founders 
of  this  movement  stood  solidly  upon  the  platform  of 
scriptural  holiness  and  were  jealous  only  for  moral 
purity.  But  the  righteousness  for  which  they  con- 
tended was  the  same  in  character  as  that  ascribed  to 

I 


2  Reminiscences  of 

the  Son  of  God:  "Thou  hast  loved  righteousness 
and  hated  iniquity;  therefore  God,  even  thy  God, 
hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy 
fellows"  (Heb.  1:9).  The  holiness  they  demanded 
was  not  that  sickly  sentimentalism  which,  baptized 
in  the  name  of  Christianity,  is  loud  in  its  protesta- 
tions of  love  for  righteousness  but  dares  not  strike 
one  effectual  blow  at  iniquity.  These  bold  reformers, 
in  their  hatred  of  and  uncompromising  opposition 
to  iniquity,  soon  came  to  questions  involving  moral 
issues,  and  they  were  not  slow  in  taking  their  stand 
or  unequivocal  in  defending  their  position. 

Early  in  the  fifties  Rev's.  B.  T.  Roberts,  Loren 
Stiles,  Joseph  McCreery  and  other  members  of  the 
Genesee  conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  saw,  as  they  believed,  evidences  of  a  growing 
departure  from  scriptural  Christianity  and  original 
Methodism.  At  the  session  of  the  conference  held 
at  Le  Roy  in  the  fall  of  1857  Rev.  B.  T.  Roberts  was 
tried  and  declared  guilty  of  immoral  conduct  for 
writing,  and  publishing  in  the  Northern  Independent^ 
an  article  entitled  "  New  School  Methodism."  Repri- 
manded by  the  bishop  he  went  to  his  new  charge  at 
Pekin  with  increased  determination  to  be  true  to 
God.  During  the  following  year  George  W.  Pastes  of 
Brockport,  New  York,  in  connection  with  the  article 
"New  School  Methodism,"  published  in  pamphlet 


Early  Free  Methodism  3 

form  an  account  of  the  trial  of  B.  T.  Roberts.  At 
the  next  session  of  the  conference,  held  at  Perry,  New 
York,  Rev.  Roberts,  under  a  charge  of  "  contumacy," 
was  brought  to  trial  for  republishing  and  circulat- 
ing the  article  on  "New  School  Methodism;"  and, 
although  Mr.  Estes  on  the  witness  stand  testified 
that  he  was  entirely  responsible  for  the  publication 
of  the  pamphlet,  Rev.  Roberts  was  declared  guilty 
of  immoral  conduct  and  expelled  from  the  confer- 
ence and  church.  The  expulsion  of  Stiles  and  others 
on  trivial  charges  soon  followed. 

Brother  Roberts  took  an  appeal  to  the  ensuing 
general  conference  which  met  in  the  spring  of  i860, 
at  Buffalo,  New  York.  The  appeal  was  not  enter- 
tained. All  hope  of  redress  being  cut  off,  these  men 
of  God  knew  of  no  way  but  to  organize  a  new 
church,  which  organization  was  effected  at  a  conven- 
tion held  at  Pekin,  New  York,  August  23,  i860. 

Rev.  Doctor  Redfield,  a  homeopathic  physician 
and  a  licensed  local  preacher  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  had  been  largely  instrumental  in  pro- 
moting the  work  of  holiness  in  western  New  York.  He 
was  a  man  of  a  very  sensitive,  retiring  nature,  but  in 
his  pulpit  ministrations,  under  the  baptism  of  the 
Spirit,  his  appeals  and  flights  of  eloquence  at  times 
were  almost  unearthly.  The  awakening  on  the  sub- 
ject of  scriptural  holiness,  which   invariably   char- 


4  Reminiscences  of 

acterized  the  labors  of  Doctor  Redfield,  resulted  in 
the  formation  of  the  Free  Methodist  church. 

In  June,  1856,  we  find  Doctor  Redfield,  by  invita- 
tion of  the  pastor.  Rev.  David  Sherman,  engaged  in  a 
revival  meeting  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at 
St.  Charles,  Illinois.  Rev.  Sherman  had  known  the 
doctor  in  New  England,  and,  having  taken  a  transfer 
to  the  Rock  River  conference,  and  being  desirous  of 
promoting  the  work  of  holiness  on  his  charge,  had 
written  Doctor  Redfield  requesting  him  to  come  and 
assist  him  in  a  series  of  revival  services.  Father  and 
Mother  Foot,  Brother  and  Sister  Osborne  and  many- 
others  of  the  members  of  the  society  fell  in  with  the 
doctor's  preaching  and  methods,  and  a  remarkable 
work  of  saving  grace  followed.  A  large  number 
entered  into  the  experience  of  entire  sanctification, 
and  many  were  converted. 

The  doctor  labored  in  the  west  at  different  points 
for  two  or  three  years.  In  January,  1858,  Rev. 
Vance,  pastor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at 
Marengo,  Illinois,  where  I  then  lived,  commenced  a 
protracted  meeting  which,  in  a  few  weeks,  resulted 
in  some  sixty  accessions  to  the  church.  The  pastor's 
health  failed,  and  the  members,  feeling  that  the 
meeting  ought  to  be  continued,  were  anxious  to  find 
some  one  to  take  the  lead  and  carry  on  the  work. 

My  father,  who  was  a  class-leader,  dreamed  one 


Early  Free  Methodism  5 

night  that  he  saw  Doctor  Redfield  walking  up  the 
aisle  of  the  church.  Father  had  never  met  the 
doctor,  but  had  heard  my  mother,  who  had  met  him 
some  years  before  in  Vermont,  frequently  speak  of 
him  as  a  remarkable  revivalist.  Father  laughingly 
spoke  to  some  of  the  members  about  his  dream, 
when  a  Sister  Barron  exclaimed,  "Why,  Doctor  Red- 
field!  there  is  a  revivalist  by  that  name  who  has  held 
meetings  at  St.  Charles."  A  letter  was  at  once  sent 
to  St.  Charles  inquiring  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the 
doctor,  and  reply  was  received  that  he  was  engaged 
in  a  meeting  at  Elgin.  As  my  mother  was  acquainted 
with  the  doctor  and  his  wife,  she  was  delegated  to 
go  to  Elgin  and  invite  them  to  come  to  Marengo. 
As  I  was  a  young  convert  I  accompanied  mother. 
The  doctor  said  he  would  go,  provided  the  pastor 
and  official  board  would  give  him  full  control  and 
allow  him  to  conduct  the  meeting  in  his  own  way. 
When  we  reported,  the  pastor  objected  very  strongly 
to  this  proviso;  but  the  members  finally  prevailed 
on  him  to  allow  the  doctor  to  have  full  control. 

During  the  weeks  preceding,  in  the  protracted 
effort,  the  members  had  been  getting  down  before 
the  Lord,  and  so  were  in  good  condition  to  receive 
the  plain,  searching  truth  presented  by  the  doctor. 
Besides  this  there  were  some  among  them  who  knew 
God  in  the  deeper  experiences  of  saving  grace. 


6  Reminiscences  of 

There  was  "Mother  Cobb,"  who  for  nearly  fifty 
years  had  walked  in  the  clear  light  of  sanctifying 
grace.  "Mother  Cobb"  was  to  a  marked  degree 
characterized  by  that  peculiarity  which  is  the  inevi- 
table result  of  the  transforming  power  of  grace.  She 
was  peculiar  in  disposition,  in  appearance  and  in 
conversation — so  sweet  in  disposition  you  would  at 
once  forget  the  wrinkles  in  her  face,  and  in  appear- 
ance so  neat  that  it  seemed  she  would  look  so  well 
in  nothing  else  as  she  did  in  her  blue  calico  dress 
and  Quaker  bonnet.  Jesus  in  his  saving  power  was 
the  beginning  and  end  of  all  her  conversation.  She 
allowed  no  opportunity  for  speaking  a  word  for  the 
Master  to  pass  unimproved. 

There  was  "Mother  Combs,"  a  power  in  exhor- 
tation, who  possessed  such  a  spirit  of  discernment 
that  as  she  passed  out  of  the  church  at  the  close  of 
the  first  service  held  by  the  pastor  at  the  beginning 
of  the  year,  she  unhesitatingly  said,  "  He  is  a  sinner," 
and  subsequent  events  evidenced  the  truthfulness  of 
the  declaration;  for  before  the  year  closed  he  was 
expelled  for  drunkenness. 

There  was  "Mother  Lawrence,"  a  saint  of  God 
who  gloried  in  the  cross  alone,  and  who,  with  Paul 
could  truthfully  exclaim,  "whereby  the  world  is 
crucified  unto  me  and  I  unto  the  world."  Good 
soul!  when  she  heard  of  Doctor  Redfield's  preaching 


Early  Free  Methodism  7 

she  seemed  to  sniff  the  battle  from  afar,  and  walked 
twelve  miles  across  the  prairies  to  attend  the 
meetings. 

And  then  there  was  my  own  mother — noble 
woman  that  she  was — who  had  been  true  to  the  light 
she  had  received,  but  never  came  out  into  the  experi- 
ence of  entire  holiness  until  the  first  night  of  Doctor 
Redfield's  meeting. 

In  the  township  of  Hampshire,  Kane  county, 
Illinois,  out  about  seven  miles  from  Elgin,  lived  a 
pious  widow  who,  at  the  death  of  her  husband,  was 
left  with  a  small  farm  and  a  large  family.  Her  son 
Joseph,  just  coming  up  into  young  manhood,  was 
her  main  earthly  reliance.  One  day  the  mother  said 
to  Joseph,  "I  wish  you  would  arrange  some  seats  in 
the  kitchen,  we  are  to  have  a  meeting  to-night." 
Joseph,  supposing  his  mother  had  secured  the  serv- 
ices of  the  circuit  rider,  soon  had  the  kitchen  filled 
with  extemporized  seats  and  looked  anxiously  for 
the  expected  preacher.  But  when  the  hour  for 
meeting  arrived,  judge  of  his  surprise  as  his  mother 
arose,  Bible  in  hand,  to  commence  the  service.  Sev- 
eral of  the  neighbors  and  quite  a  number  of  the 
young  people  had  come  in  to  attend  the  good 
widow's  protracted  meeting.  Joseph  was  greatly 
chagrined,  but  out  of  respect  to  his  mother,  bore  it 
as  meekly  as  he  could,  hoping  that  this  first  meeting 


8  Reminiscences  of 

might  be  the  last.  But  to  his  dismay  his  mother 
gave  out  meetings  for  each  evening  of  the  week.  In 
answer  to  the  prayers  and  faith  of  the  pious  mother, 
the  Holy  Spirit  came  down  among  the  people  in 
saving  power.  Joseph  was  one  of  the  first  fruits  of 
the  revival.  And  in  after  years,  when  he  had  grown 
up  to  manhood  and  had  become  mighty  in  the  proc- 
lamation of  the  gospel,  I  have  heard  him  with  eyes 
streaming  with  tears  and  utterance  choked  with 
emotion,  tell  of  his  conversion  in  a  protracted  meeting 
held  by  his  mother  in  her  own  kitchen.  When  in 
January,  1858,  Doctor  Redfield  was  engaged  in  the 
meeting  at  Elgin,  Joseph  and  several  of  the  young 
people  of  the  neighborhood  drove  down  to  hear  him 
preach.  "  There  is  a  divinity  which  shapes  our  ends, 
rough-hew  them  how  we  will."  In  these  and  subse- 
quent meetings  held  by  the  doctor,  this  young  man 
received  an  experience  in  the  things  of  God  and  an 
inspiration  of  the  Spirit  which  never  left  him.  And 
when  the  church  was  organized  in  the  West  he  was 
one  of  the  first  to  take  his  stand.  Under  God  he 
came  to  be  a  remarkable  factor  in  the  upbuilding  of 
the  cause,  filling  with  credit  and  general  acceptability 
almost  every  position  the  church  had  to  offer;  and 
besides  other  literary  labors,  writing  the  "Life  of 
Redfield,"  a  book  which  has  proved  a  boon  and  a 
blessing  to  thousands.     Such  was  Joseph  G.  Terrill, 


Early  Free  Methodism  9 

a  man  who  knew  no  envy  and  who  was  so  free  from 
anything  like  littleness  of  spirit  that  he  could  rejoice 
as  sincerely  at  the  preferment  of  a  brother  as  he 
possibly  could  over  his  own  advancement.  Finally, 
as  missionary  secretary,  early  in  the  spring  of  1895 
he  took  a  band  of  missionaries  to  New  York  to  see 
them  off  for  Africa,  when  he  was  suddenly  taken 
with  pneumonia  and  in  a  few  days,  at  the  home  of  a 
kind  brother  in  the  Lord,  exclaiming,  "I  am  prayed 
up  to  date  and  blessed  up  to  date,"  he  swept  through 
the  gates  to  his  eternal  reward. 

C.  E.  Harroun  was  fully  saved  in  the  first  meeting 
held  by  Doctor  Redfield  at  St.  Charles.  He  at  once 
answered  to  the  divine  call  and  set  about  the  work 
of  preaching  the  gospel,  and  in  all  his  after  life  he 
never  could  do  anything  else  so  well.  For  some 
years  he  preached  at  different  points  in  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin.  He  extended  his  labors  to  Iowa,  Kansas 
and  Missouri,  and  now  in  his  declining  years  is 
assisting  his  son,  C.  E.  Harroun,  Jr.,  in  building  up 
a  new  conference  in  Oklahoma.  In  his  ministrations 
he  has,  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  of  his  fellow 
laborers,  both  in  pulpit  and  in  altar  work,  retained 
the  peculiar  style  and  methods  of  Doctor  Redfield. 
A  fine  singer,  a  powerful  preacher,  at  times,  as  the 
Spirit  moves  him,  congregations  are  aroused  to  a 
pitch  of  intense  excitement. 


10  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  II. 

On  the  evening  of  Wednesday,  February  3,  1858, 
Doctor  Redfleld  began  his  labors  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  at  Marengo,  Illinois.  In  the  meet- 
ings which  were  going  on  for  some  weeks  previous  I 
had  made  a  profession  of  religion,  but  I  knew  little 
of  the  conditions  of  saving  faith.  I  remember  as  I 
went  to  the  altar  the  preacher  exclaimed,  "That  is  a 
son  of  the  covenant,"  referring,  I  suppose,  to  the  fact 
that  my  parents  were  members  of  the  church.  A 
few  prayers  were  offered,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
service  the  members  gathered  around,  and,  shaking 
my  hand,  expressed  their  delight  that  I  had  made 
up  my  mind  to  go  to  heaven.  I  was  pleased  to  see 
them  pleased  and  supposed  I  had  religion.  I  was 
taken  into  the  church  on  probation  and  assigned  to  a 
class.  I  remember  that  in  class-meeting  I  would 
count  around  to  see  when  it  would  come  my  turn  to 
speak  and  fix  up  something  in  my  mind  to  say,  and 
when  called  on  to  speak  would  begin  at  the  wrong 
end,  get  confused  and  sit  down  ashamed;  and  I 
thought  this  was  bearing  the  cross. 

I  had  some  denominational  pride,  and  on  Wednes- 


Early  Free  Methodism  ii 

day  morning  I  informed  a  friend  of  mine,  a  young 
lawyer,  that  we  were  to  have  a  revivalist  preach  at 
our  church  and  that  he  was  considered  a  great 
preacher.  He  said  he  would  like  to  hear  him.  I 
said,  "I  will  call  for  you  and  we  will  go  up  to  the 
church  together."  At  the  hour  for  service  I  found 
my  young  friend,  and  on  the  way  up  the  street  I 
began  to  have  some  misgivings  and  said,  "This  man 
is  a  stranger  here  and  this  first  night  he  may  be  a 
little  embarrassed.  So  little  did  I  know  about  a  man 
of  God  preaching  the  gospel.  When  we  reached  the 
church  the  house  was  crowded.  My  friend  stopped 
by  the  door,  but  being  a  young  convert  I  made  my 
way  through  the  congregation  and  took  a  seat  on  the 
pulpit  steps.  I  shall  never  forget  the  service  of  that 
night.  When  the  doctor,  in  his  quiet,  unassuming 
way,  arose  and  announced  the  hymn  beginning  with 
the  words,  "Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  cross?"  and  at  the 
end  of  the  line  in  a  quiet  way,  with  rising  inflection, 
repeated  the  words,  "Am  I?"  it  seemed  as  though 
each  person  in  the  congregation  was  silently  putting 
the  question  to  his  own  conscience — "Am  I?"  His 
manner  and  utterance  in  prayer  were  almost  oppres- 
sive with  reverence.  When  he  announced  his  text — 
"And  holiness  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord  " — it  seemed  like  eternity.  In  a  quiet,  conversa- 
tional tone  he  spoke  of  the  nature  and  necessity  of 


12  Reminiscences  of 

scriptural  holiness;  with  more  emphasis  and  power  he 
spoke  of  the  conditions  to  be  met  in  order  to  obtain 
the  experience,  and  closed  by  relating  some  thrilling 
instances  of  the  power  of  this  grace  in  meetings  he 
had  held.  He  spoke  perhaps  for  forty  or  forty-five 
minutes,  and  every  person  in  the  congregation 
seemed  spell-bound.  Sitting  there  on  the  pulpit 
steps  I  looked  up  at  the  man  in  amazement,  and  as 
he  laid  down  the  conditions  necessary  to  the  attain- 
ment of  the  experience  I  would  say  to  myself,  "That 
has  never  entered  into  my  estimate  of  religion." 

An  odd  character  by  the  name  of  Bradley,  who 
lived  among  the  people  and  attended  all  the  pro- 
tracted meetings  he  could  reach,  made  his  appear- 
ance the  first  evening  the  doctor  preached.  As  the 
congregation  in  almost  breathless  silence  listened  to 
the  burning  words  of  the  preacher  this  man  Bradley 
at  the  top  of  his  voice  suddenly  cried  out,  "Glory! 
Hallelujah!"  The  doctor  seeing  the  congregation 
was  startled,  looked  in  the  direction  the  sound  came 
from  and  quietly  said,  "Thank  God  you  have  one 
spiritual  thermometer  here,"  and  went  on  with  his 
discourse.  The  Holy  Spirit  that  evening  in  an 
especial  manner  made  individual  application  of  truth. 
Several  different  members  afterwards  remarked,  "I 
thought  as  he  was  preaching,  I  shall  probably  be 
the  only  one,  but  if  he  gives  an  opportunity  I  shall 


Early  Free  Methodism  13 

go  forward."  So  when  the  invitation  for  seekers 
was  given  not  only  the  altar  but  all  the  space  in  front 
and  away  down  the  aisles  was  filled. 

A  yonng  Methodist  girl  by  the  name  of  Bishop, 
whose  parents  lived  some  seven  miles  out  on  Kish- 
wauke  Prairie,  was  boarding  in  town  and  attending 
the  Presbyterian  college.  She  was  Methodist  born 
and  Methodist  bred,  a  great  stickler  for  the  church, 
with  special  emphasis  on  the,  for  it  almost  seemed 
to  her  there  could  be  salvation  in  no  other.  Con- 
verted some  five  years  before,  she  had  come  to  con- 
sider no  sacrifice  too  great  for  the  upbuilding  of  the 
church.  Working  in  festivals,  singing  in  the  choir, 
and  leading  penitents  to  the  altar,  were  exercises  in 
which  her  soul  took  especial  delight,  but  she  had 
never  prayed  audibly  in  a  public  congregation.  Not 
that  she  had  wilfully  refused,  but  Satan  had  sug- 
gested that  she  had  no  talent  for  prayer  and  if  she 
should  attempt  to  pray  in  public  she  would  make 
such  a  stuttering,  stammering  prayer  it  would  dis- 
grace the  cause.  So  careful  is  the  devil  of  God's 
cause.  Several  earnest  prayers  were  offered,  when 
the  doctor  said,  "We  will  change  the  order  of  the 
meeting,"  and  opportunity  v/as  given  for  testimony. 

Miss  Bishop  in  speaking  told  how  earnestly  she 
desired  a  religion  that  would  save  her.  The  doctor 
looked  intently  at  the   young   woman    as   she  was 


14  Reminiscences  of 

speaking  and  said,  "Sister,  wont  you  lead  us  in 
prayer?"  A  flash-light  of  conviction  illuminated 
her  soul  and  she  exclaimed,  "I  never  had  religion 
enough  to  pray  in  a  public  congregation  in  my  life, 
but  I  am  going  to  to-night!  Making  her  way  to  the 
altar,  she  fell  on  her  knees  and  with  increasing  earn- 
estness pleaded  for  the  experience  of  a  clean  heart. 

Back  in  the  house  an  old  man,  familiarly  known 
as  Uncle  Alf.  S.,  who,  either  because  he  was  not 
acquainted  with  the  usages  of  the  house  of  God,  or 
because  his  mind  was  befogged  by  whiskey,  had  at 
the  close  of  the  invitation  for  seekers  remained 
standing.  He  watched  the  young  girl  as  in  her  earn- 
estness she  cried  out,  "I  will  have  it.  I  will  have 
it;"  when,  apparently  in  deep  sympathy  for  the 
seeker,  he  suddenly  cried  out,  "You  shall  have  it." 
Then,  becoming  conscious  of  his  surroundings,  he 
sank  back  in  the  seat.  At  times  as  I  have,  in  the 
hearing  of  that  young  woman,  described  this  scene, 
she  has  responded — "And  thank  God,  I  got  it!" 

Doctor  Redfield  was  entertained  at  my  father's 
house.  On  our  return  from  the  meeting  he  and  I 
were  alone  in  the  sitting-room,  when,  turning  to  me, 
he  inquired,  "How  did  you  like  the  meeting  to- 
night?" I  rather  hesitatingly  answered,  "Oh,  very 
well — a  good  deal  of  noise."  The  doctor  said,  "The 
noise  didn't  hurt  you,  did  it?"     I  replied,  "No;  but 


Early  Free  Methodism  15 

there  were  some  persons  there  who  I  thought 
might  not  like  it."  Suddenly  he  said,  "Young  man, 
has  God  Almighty  made  you  ear-inspector-general  of 
this  town?"  As  meekly  as  I  could  I  answered, 
"No,  sir." 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  doctor's  arrival  they  claimed 
some  sixty  converts.  The  next  day  after  the  doctor's 
first  sermon  I  don't  think  a  dozen  of  them  could  have 
been  found.  One  official  member,  a  Universalist  at 
heart,  was  greatly  exercised  over  the  discourage- 
ment of  the  young  converts.^  But  as  the  members 
sought  and  obtained  the  experience  of  entire  sancti- 
fication  conviction  spread  throughout  the  entire 
place  and  into  the  country  for  miles  in  every  direc- 
tion. Doctors,  lawyers  and  saloonkeepers  were 
brought  under  the  power  of  saving  grace.  As  evi- 
dence of  the  genuineness  of  the  work  everj^  saloon 
in  the  village  was  closed  up.  At  the  close  of  even- 
ing services  men  going  in  different  directions  to  their 
homes  could  be  heard  shouting  "Glory!  Hallelujah!" 
And  this  at  the  time  seemed  no  more  out  of  place 
than  it  is  ordinarily  to  hear  men  swear  on  the  street. 

People  came  in  wagon  loads  from  eight  to  ten 
miles,  and  in  order  to  secure  seats  in  the  church  often 
reached  town  before  dark.  One  Mr.  J.,  an  avowed 
spiritualist,  living  out  some  seven  miles,  together 
with  his  partner  in  farm  work,  and  their  wives,  were 


l6  Reminiscences  of 

all  grandly  saved.  Father  and  Mother  Bishop,  who 
held  their  membership  on  an  adjoining  circuit, 
although  not  yet  fifty,  thought  themselves  too  old 
to  get  out  to  evening  meetings.  Hearing  of  the 
blessing  experienced  by  their  daughter,  they  came 
over  and  obtained  the  great  salvation;  and  though 
their  lives  were  prolonged  into  the  seventies  they 
were  never  afterward  too  old  to  attend  night  meet- 
ings. Some  prominent  men  and  church  members 
had  restitution  to  make,  and  a  radical  work  of  grace 
prevailed  throughout  the  community.  Mother  Law- 
rence, who  was  all  glorious  within  and  whose  soul, 
no  doubt,  like  the  king's  daughter,  was  hung  with 
jewels,  was  not  outwardly  particularly  prepossessing, 
and  during  the  preaching  she  had  a  peculiar  way  of 
drawling  out  A-man.  Some  of  the  members,  who 
were  anxious  to  have  the  work  so  respectable  as  not 
to  disgust  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Baptists,  gave 
the  old  lady  some  pretty  strong  intimations  to  the 
effect  that  they  would  like  to  have  her  make  herself 
conspicuous  by  her  absence.  At  the  close  of  the 
service  one  evening,  the  old  lady  told  the  doctor 
she  thought  on  account  of  these  things  she  might 
better  go  home.  "  Oh,"  said  the  doctor,  "  don't  go, 
don't  go;  we  can't  spare  you — we  need  at  least  one 
fog-splitter  here." 

Daniel  B.,  the  village  drayman,  a  large,  fleshy 


Early  Free  Methodism  17 

man,  who  had  little  or  no  education,  but  who  had 
an  abundance  of  good  common  sense,  was  unfortu- 
nately a  victim  of  drink  and  at  times  fearfully  pro- 
fane. .  When  Docter  Redfield  arrived  in  town  the 
checks  were  passed  over  to  the  drayman,  who  took 
the  baggage  to  my  father's.  The  doctor  inquired 
how  much  the  cartage  would  be,  when  B.,  hurrying 
out  of  the  room,  replied,  "Nothing,  sir!  Nothing, 
sir!'.  He  said  to  me  afterwards,  "I  was  glad  to  get 
out  of  that  man's  presence.  I  was  afraid  I  should 
fall  to  the  floor."  Daniel  was  one  of  the  early  con- 
verts. He  certainly  proved  to  be  a  diamond  in  the 
rough.  Polished  by  grace,  for  years  he  shone  for 
God;  and  the  last  time  he  attended  class  he  said, 
"I  want  to  be  ready  to  go  at  the  crack  of  the  whip  !" 
The  next  day  on  the  street  attending  to  his  work, 
without  a  moment's  warning,  he  dropped  dead  on 
the  walk  and  answered  to  the  roll-call  in  the  skies. 
Mrs.  C.  was  the  wife  of  one  of  the  most  promin- 
ent lawyers  in  the  county.  Her  name  was  on  the 
church  book,  but  her  heart  was  in  the  world.  She 
took  pride  in  being  a  leader  in  fashion  and  worldly 
pleasures.  Attending  the  meeting  she  was  brought 
to  face  eternal  consequences  and  was  glad  to  humble 
herself  at  the  cross.  The  lawyer,  proud  of  his  young 
wife  as  a  butterfly  of  fashion,  was  greatly  incensed 
at  the  thought  of  her  becoming,  as  he  termed  it.  "a 


l8  Reminiscences  of 

Redfieldite."  By  entreaties  and  by  threats  he  did 
all  he  could  to  dissuade  her  from  being  a  true 
Christian.  But  the  vow  was  passed  beyond  repeal 
and  God  had  set  the  solemn  seal.  So,  whether  locked 
in  the  closet  or  pushed  out  on  the  door-step,  she 
could  shout  and  sing, 

"Where'er  I  am — where'er  I  move, 
I  meet  the  object  of  my  love." 

In  evidence  of  the  spiritual  momentum  and  force 
of  this  revival  it  may  be  sufficient  to  say,  a  daily  five 
o'clock  morning  prayer-meeting  was  maintained  in 
that  church  for  more  than  a  year.  A  large  number 
of  the  most  substantial  people  in  the  community 
were  brought  under  the  power  of  saving  grace  and 
many  of  them  remained  nobly  true  to  the  day  of 
their  death.  I  have  been  told  that  Doctor  Redfield 
pronounced  this  revival  the  most  thorough  and  per- 
fect work  in  all  his  labors. 


Early  Free  Methodism  19 


CHAPTER  III. 

From  Marengo  Doctor  Redfield  went  to  Woodstock, 
the  county  seat  of  McHenry  county.  The  Meth- 
odists here  were  comparatively  weak.  They  had  no 
church  building,  but  worshiped  in  a  hall.  The  work 
at  Woodstock  met  with  great  opposition  from  the 
very  start,  still  much  good  was  done.  One  prominent 
man  who  was  saved  became  a  local  preacher  and  was 
afterwards  elected  sheriff  of  the  county.  Rev.  B. 
was  pastor.  He  was  an  inoffensive  man,  but  took  no 
decided  stand. 

One  day  in  an  afternoon  meeting  the  doctor, 
addressing  the  pastor,  said:  "Brother  B.,  do  you  enjoy 
the  experience  of  entire  sanctification?"  Brother 
B.  replied,  "I  can't  say  that  I  do."  Brother  B.," 
inquired  the  doctor,  "when  you  joined  the  Rock 
River  conference  did  you  not  say  you  was  earnestly 
groaning  to  be  made  perfect  in  love?"  Brother  B. 
replied,  "I  did."  The  doctor  said,  "How  long  ago 
was  that?"  Brother  B.  answered,  "Thirteen  years 
ago."  The  doctor  quietly,  but  with  emphasis,  said: 
"Brother  B.,  isn't  that  a  pretty  long  groan?"  The 
pastor  at  once  set  about  seeking  the  experience. 


20  Reminiscences  of 

I.  H.  Fairchilds.  a  local  preacher,  got  out  into  the 
light  at  this  meeting.  He  figured  quite  prominently 
in  starting  and  building  up  the  Free  Methodist 
church  in  that  part  of  the  state.  Meantime  at  St. 
Charles  "a  king  arose  who  knew  not  Joseph."  A 
preacher  by  the  name  of  Howard  had  been  appointed 
there.  He  had  but  little  sympathy  for  Methodism 
in  general,  and  especially  abhorred  and  despised  the 
doctrine  of  entire  sanctification.  He  preached  a 
year  or  two  in  that  vicinity  for  the  Methodists,  and 
then  went  to  the  Universalists.  This  man  took  a 
very  decided  stand  against  those  who  had  come  out 
under  the  labors  of  Doctor  Redfield.  Perhaps  the 
pastor  was  not  altogether  responsible,  for  it  was  said 
he  consulted  one  of  the  leading  bishops  of  the  church 
who  advised  him  to  the  course  he  pursued.  The 
Methodist  church  in  the  West,  at  this  time,  was  in  a 
kind  of  intermediate  state.  She  had  but  little  either 
of  religion  or  popularity.  The  complete  transition 
took  place  in  i860,  about  the  time  of  the  breaking 
out  of  the  civil  war,  when,  to  a  great  extent,  she  sub- 
stituted patriotism  for  salvation,  and,  courting  the 
smiles  of  the  world,  many  of  her  preachers  and 
members  united  with  Masonic  lodges,  and  so  with 
her  head  in  the  lap  of  Delilah,  as  far  as  vital  godli- 
ness was  concerned,  she  was  shorn  of  her  strength. 

The  holiness  movement  in  Western   New  York 


Early  Free  Methodism  21 

was  attracting  a  good  deal  of  attention.  A  policy  of 
proscription  had  been  inaugurated,  and  under  this 
rule  an  attempt  was  made  to  stamp  out  the  work. 
The  pastor  at  St.  Charles,  probably  under  instruc- 
tions, pursued  the  same  course  there.  OfHcial  mem- 
bers in  sympathy  with  the  doctrine  and  experience 
of  holiness  were  removed  from  office,  and  many  in 
good  and  regular  standing,  without  judge  or  jury, 
were  read  out  as  withdrawn.  During  this  adminis- 
tion  the  doctor  returned  to  St.  Charles.  He  was  not 
allowed  to  occupy  the  Methodist  pulpit,  and  his 
sympathizers  procured  an  old  unused  Universalist 
church  for  him  to  preach  in.  That  was  a  memorable 
Sabbath.  The  holiness  people  came  in  from  all 
directions,  and  the  house  was  crowded.  Seymour 
Coleman,  an  old  war  horse  of  the  Troy  comference, 
was  supplying  the  pulpit  of  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  of  Aurora  that  year,  and  among 
those  saved  under  his  labors  was  one  Benjamin 
Hackney.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  appearance  and  of 
noble  mind.  He  had  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  rep- 
resenting his  district  in  the  State  Legislature. 

Brother  Hackney  and  his  devoted  wife  were  at 
this  Sunday  morning  service.  In  giving  his  testi- 
mony he  spoke  of  the  opposition  and  the  tribula- 
tions which  the  true  Christian  must  meet.  This 
furnished  the  doctor  with  a  text  and  a  theme.     At 


22  Reminiscences  of 

the  close  of  the  love-feast  he  arose,  and,  reading  the 
closing  words  of  the  fourteenth  verse  of  the  seventh 
of  Revelation,  "And  he  said  to  me,  These  are  they 
which  came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have 
washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb,"  preached  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
sermons  of  his  life.  From  this  on  the  chasm  wid- 
ened, and  finally  these  persecuted  saints  rented  the 
dining  room  of  an  old  vacant  hotel  and  fitted  it  up 
for  a  place  of  worship,  and,  sending  for  Joseph 
Terrill,  the  boy  who  was  converted  in  his  mother's 
kitchen,  they  commenced  a  series  of  revival  meet- 
ings which  resulted  in  the  salvation  of  a  hundred 
souls,  the  formation  of  a  Free  Methodist  society 
and  the  building  of  a  church. 

C.  E.  Harroun  held  revival  meetings  at  Clinton- 
ville,  now  called  South  Elgin.  A  society  was  formed 
there  and  a  church  built.  During  the  year  the  work 
on  what  was  call  Vermont  street  and  at  Franklinville 
went  on  with  increasing  power.  In  harvest  the  men 
would  come  in  on  their  reapers  late  at  night  singing 
and  shouting  the  praises  of  God,  then  go  over  to  the 
school  house  for  meeting.  "And  there  was  added 
to  the  church  daily  such  as  were  being  saved."  At 
Franklinville  church  the  preacher  in  charge  got  the 
baptism  and  a  hundred  were  converted  or  cleansed. 
As  to  my  personal  experience  that  year  I  prefer  to 


Early  Free  Methodism  23 

let  it,  with  all  the  mistakes  and  sins  of  my  life,  re- 
main under  the  blood. 

The  work  at  the  Franklinville  church  went  on  in 
power.  But  at  a  quarterly  meeting  held  during  the 
year  the  presiding  elder  warned  the  people  against 
the  use  of  dogmatic  terms  such  as  sanctification  and 
the  like.  The  preacher  in  charge  began  to  tone 
down  and  finally  took  a  decided  stand  against  the 
work  of  holiness.  When  conference  time  came 
Father  Bishop  and  others  petitioned  for  a  change  of 
preachers.  "For,"  said  Father  Bishop,  "we  will  not 
pay  Methodist  preachers  for  fighting  Methodist  doc- 
trine." The  conference  over,  back  came  both  the 
preachers — senior  and  junior — and  now  the  battle 
was  put  in  array  in  good  earnest.  Father  Bishop 
opened  his  house  for  a  Monday  night  holiness 
meeting,  and  from  Woodstock,  Queen  Ann  Prairie, 
Vermont  street.  Crystal  Lake  and  the  intervening 
country  the  holiness  people  rallied.  The  meeting 
was  kept  in  the  hands  of  the  laity,  and  though  the 
preacher  came  and  proposed  to  lead  it  and  finally 
informed  the  people  that  he  would  remove  it  to  the 
church,  he  could  not  make  his  plans  work.  Souls 
were  converted  and  sanctified  at  almost  every  gath- 
ering. 

Living  two  or  three  miles  east  of  Father  Bishop 
was  a  family  by  the  name  of  Best,  and,  as  their  name 


24  Reminiscences  of 

indicates,  they  were  to  be  classed  among  the  super- 
latively good.  The  family  consisted  of  father,  mother 
and  four  boys.  The  boys  were  young,  but  were  being 
carefully  taught  and  trained  by  the  mother,  who  was 
a  woman  of  superior  intelligence  as  well  as  of  super- 
lative piety.  Outside  of  this  family  the  neighbor- 
hood was  wild  and  reckless.  There  had  been  no 
preaching  there  for  years,  and  many  of  the  young 
people  had  never  heard  a  gospel  sermon.  The  place 
later  became  favorably  known  as  "The  Brick  School 
House."  I.  H.  Fairchilds,  the  local  preacher  spoken 
of  before,  sent  an  appointment  to  this  school  house 
and  a  series  of  meetings  was  held.  Many  of  the 
holiness  people  attended,  among  them  the  Bishop 
family,  and  as  a  result  of  the  meetings  floods  of 
mercy  broke  on  the  community  and  fifty  or  more 
were  saved.  If  I  remember  aright  a  Methodist 
Episcopal  class  of  forty  was  organized  on  an  adjoin- 
ing circuit  as  a  fruit  of  this  meeting.  A  good  many 
of  the  converts  said  they  came  to  the  meeting  at 
first  to  hear  the  Bishop  girl  shout.  A  good  work 
was  going  on  and  for  a  few  Sabbaths  Father  Bishop 
and  family  felt  they  ought  to  attend  meetings  at  the 
school  house  and  did  so.  This  served  for  a  pretext 
and  they  were  soon  cited  to  trial  for  not  attending 
public  worship  and  class  at  Franklinville  church 
where  they  belonged.     There  were  persons  whose 


Early  Free  Methodism  25 

names  were  on  that  church  book  who  had  attended 
neither  public  worship  nor  class  for  years,  and  some 
of  whom  were  avowed  Mormons,  and  others  who 
gloried  in  being  Universalists;  but  they  were  not 
troublers  in  Israel. 

The  day  for  the  trial  arrived  and  these  people 
who  were  staunch  Methodists,  and  who  had  come 
from  Methodist  stock  a  century  old,  appeared  at 
the  church.  But  they  had  hundreds  of  sympathi- 
zers, for  they  were  well  and  favorably  known 
throughout  all  that  region.  So  on  the  day  of  the 
trial,  to  the  dismay  of  the  preacher  the  church  was 
filled.  Finally  the  preacher  came  in  and  informed 
the  accused  that  he  had  concluded  to  have  a  private 
trial  and  to  hold  it  in  the  parsonage  across  the 
street.  Father  Bishop,  who  knew  something  of  Meth- 
odist law,  quoted  Baker  on  the  discipline  and  said, 
"A  trial  should  be  private  only  at  the  request  of  the 
accused,  and  we  demand  a  public  trial;  for,"  said 
he,  "if  we  have  done  anything  worthy  of  bonds  or 
of  death,  we  refuse  not  to  be  bound  or  to  die."  But 
the  preacher  took  his  committee  and  went  over  to 
the  parsonage  to  go  on  with  the  trial,  and  the  saints 
went  on  with  a  love-feast.  As  one  after  the  other 
their  heads  went  off,  ecclesiastically,  the  preacher 
would  come  into  the  church  and  announce  the  fact. 

William,  the  eldest  son,  in    preparation  for  the 


26  Reminiscences  of 

ministry  had  been  attending  the  theological  school 
at  Evanston.  When  he  went  he  took  a  church  let- 
ter, but  concluded  not  to  put  it  in  at  Evanston,  so  on 
his  return  home  had  it  with  him.  When  the  preacher 
declared  him  expelled  William  said,  "Brother  W., 
you  can't  expel  me:  I  hold  a  letter."  "Let  me  see 
it,"  said  the  preacher,  William  feeling  a  little  sus- 
picious, held  up  the  letter,  when  the  preacher,  as  if 
to  get  a  better  look  at  it,  reached  up,  and,  taking 
hold  of  the  corner  where  his  own  name  was  signed, 
with  a  sudden  jerk  tore  his  name  from  the  certifi- 
cate. At  this  a  young  woman  by  the  name  of  Spon- 
able  with  a  piercing  shriek,  fell  in  a  burden  at  the 
feet  of  the  preacher.  It  was  getting  uncomfortably 
warm  for  the  pastor,  and  he  started  for  the  door; 
but  a  stalwart  saint  stood  against  the  door  and  re- 
fused to  let  him  out.  He  then  rushed  up  into  the 
pulpit  and  with  loud  and  earnest  protestation,  de- 
clared he  did  not  tear  the  letter.  The  saints  looked 
on  him  with  pity  and  prayed  the  Lord  to  have 
mercy  on  him. 

Unjustly  excluded  from  the  church  of  their 
choice  they  hardly  knew  what  to  do.  Finally 
Father  Bishop  drew  up  articles  of  association,  and 
this  family  and  many  of  their  sympathizers  formed 
themselves  into  an  Earnest  Christian  Band.  Most  of 
those  whose  names  were  on  that  paper  have  crossed 


Early  Free  Methodism  27 

the  flood,  and  those  who  remain  are  to  the  border 
come.  "With  charity  for  all  and  malice  toward 
none"  they  still  live  to  glorify  God.  I  cannot  begin  to 
enumerate  the  remarkable  events  of  those  days.  But 
not  the  least  among  them  was  the  fact  that  one  mother 
in  Israel,  with  direct  reference  to  the  work  of  God, 
week  after  week  refrained  from  taking  food,  and  so, 
like  the  Mosaic  and  the  gospel  dispensations,  the 
Holiness  Movement  in  Northern  Illinois  in  its  be- 
ginning was  characterized  by  a  "forty  day's  fast.'* 


28  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  winter  following  the  meeting  held  by  Doctor 
Redfield  at  Marengo,  I  was  so  convicted  of  my  need 
of  salvation  I  concluded  I  must  be  saved  at  any  cost. 
In  my  desperation  I  went  one  day  to  the  office  of  my 
young  friend,  the  lawyer.  I  was  so  convicted  I  could 
not  keep  back  the  tears,  and  he,  noticing  my  agi- 
tation, inquired  the  cause.  I  said  to  him,  "  Henry,  it 
has  come  to  this.  I  can  go  on  as  I  am  going,  fill  a 
drunkard's  grave  and  go  to  a  drunkard's  hell,  or  I 
can  give  my  heart  to  God,  live  to  some  purpose,  die 
happy,  and  gain  heaven;"  then  added,  "and  Henry,  I 
shall  do  just  as  you  say."  He  was  a  professed  infidel; 
but,  with  a  good  deal  of  earnestness,  he  replied 
quickly,  "Why  get  religion,  of  course."  I  replied, 
"That  settles  it." 

That  evening  at  the  meeting  in  the  church,  I 
made  my  way  to  the  altar  and  sought  God  in  the 
pardon  of  my  sins.  I  prayed  earnestly,  and  Brother 
Wood,  a  local  preacher,  with  others  held  on  to  God  for 
me.  Directly  it  seemed  as  if  a  single  ray  of  sunlight 
streamed  into  my  soul;  rather  faintly  I  said,  "Halle- 
lujah." The  local  preacher,  thrusting  his  hand  through 


Early  Free  Methodism  29 

the  altar  railing,  grasped  mine  and  at  the  top  of  his 
voice  shouted,  "  Hallelujah!"  The  cloud  broke,  and 
from  my  heart  I  began  to  sing, 

•'  This  is  the  way  I  long  have  sought, 
And  mourned  because  I  found  it  not." 

From  my  earliest  recollection  a  story  had  been 
told  me,  which,  when  I  seriously  thought  of  seeking 
God,  would  come  up  before  me.  The  story  was 
that  when  I  was  born  my  maternal  grandmother,  a 
good  old  New  England  Congregationalist,  dedi- 
cated me  to  God  and,  naming  me  Edward  Payson, 
said  I  would  be  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  I  settled 
that  as  I  bowed  at  the  altar  in  the  church  that  night. 
Not  only  so,  but  tobacco,  and  all  my  bad  habits  left 
me  as  well.  For  weeks  I  shut  myself  up  for  study, 
and  only  as  I  went  to  and  from  the  church  appeared 
on  the  streets. 

After  consulting  with  my  pastor  I  began  to  make 
preparation  to  go  to  a  school  of  the  prophets  over 
on  Lake  Michigan  and  get  fitted  up  to  preach. 
About  three  weeks  after  my  conversion  I  went  one 
day  to  an  afternoon  meeting,  feeling  all  through  my 
soul,  I  have  lived  up  the  grace  I  have  received; 
something  more  must  be  done  for  me.  In  speaking 
I  told  the  brethren  and  sisters  just  how  I  felt. 
Mother  Cobb,  one  of  God's  D.  D.'s,  jumped  to  her 
feet  and  exclaimed.  "The  young  man  needs  the  ex- 


30  Renainiscences  of 

perience  of  entire  sanctification."  I  had  seen  a  great 
many  in  Doctor  Redfield's  meetings  seeking  the  ex- 
perience. I  had  seen  their  tears,  witnessed  their 
earnestness  and  heard  their  groans;  and,  starting 
down  the  aisle  to  the  altar,  I  made  up  my  mind  "If 
tears  and  groans  and  cries  will  bring  it  I  will  have 
it."  Falling  on  my  knees  with  hands  uplifted  I  be- 
gan to  cry  out,  "O  Lord,  sanctify  me!  Sanctify  me!" 
when  the  Holy  Spirit,  seemingly  to  get  my  attention, 
began  to  whisper  in  my  heart,  "See  here!  See  here! 
You  know  God  has  called  you  to  preach  the  gospel." 
"Oh,  yes,"  I  replied,  "I  have  settled  that;"  and  then, 
as  if  the  Holy  Spirit  was  to  be  put  off  with  strong 
crying  and  tears,  again  I  cried,  "Oh,  Lord,  sanctify 
me!  Sanctify  me!"  when  as  the  Spirit  for  a  little 
gained  my  attention  again  he  said,  "You  know  God 
has  called  you  to  preach  the  gospel.  Will  you  start 
out  just  as  you  are,  and  trust  God  for  the  qualfica- 
tions?"  I  thought  it  over  for  a  while.  It  looked  to 
me  like  failure;  but  I  said,  "Yes,  Lord,  you  must  take 
the  responsibility;  I'll  do  the  best  I  can." 

Then  came  the  suggestion.  But  suppose  the  Lord 
should  call  you  to  leave  friends  and  home  and  native 
land,  to  go  perhaps  to  leave  your  bones  to  bleach  on 
the  burning  sands  of  Africa,  will  you  go?  As  these 
tests  were  brought  to  bear  on  my  heart  I  saw  God 
was  not  to  be  put  off  with  strong  crying  and  tears. 


Early  Free  Methodism  31 

but  demanded  unconditional  surrender.  I  cried, 
"Yes,  Lord,  I'll  go  anywhere,  be  anything,  or  do 
anything,  only  cleanse  me."  Just  then  faith  took 
hold  in  appropriating  power  and  "the  peace  of  God 
which  passeth  understanding"  took  possession  of  my 
soul.  I  arose  from  my  knees  and  said,  "Brethren 
and  sisters,  I  have  been  so  honest  in  consecrating 
myself  that  I  dare  stand  before  God  in  judgment 
this  moment."  I  knew  that  I  was  all  given  up,  and 
I  knew  that  God  knew  I  was.  I  looked  at  myself  as 
best  I  could  from  head  to  foot  and  said,  "I  am  God's 
man."  Three  days  after  I  went  to  an  afternoon 
meeting.  They  were  having  a  season  of  prayer.  I 
knelt  at  a  front  seat.  The  suggestion  came  that  I 
should  pray.  Then  the  thought  came,  "If  you  do, 
the  people  sitting  in  the  back  of  the  church  will  look 
you  right  in  the  face;"  but  I  said,  "I  am  God's  man," 
and  opened  my  mouth  to  pray;  but  before  I  could 
utter  a  word  down  came  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  fire.  God  fulfilled  to  me  the  promise, 
"Before  they  call  will  I  answer,  and  while  they  are 
yet  speaking  I  will  hear;"  and  for  several  hours  I 
could  do  nothing  but  shout  the  praises  of  God. 

Just  at  dusk  I  returned  home.  Standing  at  the 
gate  at  my  father's  house  were  three  men,  I  at 
once  recognized  them  as  Methodist  brethren  from  a 
near  by  neighborhood  over  north  called  the  Burr 


32  Reminiscences  of 

Oaks.  They  said,  "We  have  been  trying  to  hold  a 
meeting  in  our  schoolhouse,  but  have  not  been  able 
to  get  a  preacher  to  help  us.  We  heard  that  God  had 
saved  you  and  thought  we  would  come  and  see  if 
you  would  come  over  and  help  us."  I  replied,  "The 
Lord  willing  I  will  be  there  next  Thursday  night." 
I  went,  and  have  been  going  ever  since.  "What 
think  ye  of  Christ?"  were  the  first  words  from  which 
I  ever  attempted  to  preach. 

When  I  was  converted  I  was  secretary  of  a  lodge 
of  Freemasons.  All  my  surroundings  were  favorable 
to  Masonry.  The  next  day  after  I  was  converted  a 
prominent  church  member  who  was  a  Mason  said  to 
me,  "A  man  needs  to  be  a  Christian  in  order  to 
understand  Masonry."  But  I  never  entered  the 
lodge  but  once  after  my  conversion,  and  went  then 
to  pay  in  some  money  that,  as  secretary,  I  had  in 
my  hands.  Not  that  I  was  prejudiced  against  the 
order  or  had  any  light  that  it  was  wrong.  I  did  not 
care  to  attend.  The  impulses  of  a  regenerated.heart 
are  sometimes  in  advance  of  light  on  the  under- 
standing. 

Some  one  may  be  ready  to  inquire,  "Don't  you 
believe  in  intellectual  preparation  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry?"  Certainly  I  do.  But,  remember, 
there  was  then  no  Free  Methodist  church,  no  Free 
Methodist   school.    The  needs  of  the  work   were 


Early  Free  Methodism  33 

urgent,  and,  in  my  case,  for  I  relate  my  individual 
experience,  I  suppose  the  Lord  saw  it  was  better  for 
me  to  start  out  even  in  my  poverty  of  intellectual 
qualifications  than  to  spend  several  years  in  prepara- 
tion and  perhaps  become  so  rich  in  resources  that  I 
could  preach  independently  of  God.  Certainly  a 
liberal  education  is  a  good  thing  if  consecrated  to 
God.  So  wealth  is  a  great  blessing  if  consecrated  to 
God.  But  ordinarily  that  is  a  tremendous  if.  I  was 
naturally  so  independent  that  had  there  been  any- 
thing this  side  of  God  and  heaven  on  which  I  could 
lean  I  would  have  been  almost  certain  at  least  to 
incline  that  way.  Certainly  let  our  young  men  in 
preparation  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  attend  the 
noble  institutions  with  which,  as  a  church,  God  has 
blessed  us,  and  then  let  them  go  out,  and,  by  the 
superiority  of  their  work,  demonstrate  the  utility  of 
superior  advantages. 

David  Cassady,  my  pastor,  gave  me  verbal  license 
to  exhort,  and  in  a  short  time  I  was  duly  licensed 
both  as  an  exhorter  and  a  local  preacher.  During 
the  spring  and  summer  I  exercised  my  gifts,  exhort- 
ing and  preaching  wherever  I  found  an  open  door. 
I  applied  myself  very  closely  to  study,  reading  most 
of  the  standard  works  on  Wesleyan  theology.  Timo- 
thy Benedict,  who,  after  the  expulsion  of  Rev. 
Vance,  was  appointed  to  fill  out  the  year,  when  he 


34  Reminiscences  of 

left  the  charge  told  me  when  he  heard  that  I  was 
converted  and  was  going  into  the  ministry  he  would 
send  me  the  complete  works  of  Edward  Payson  as  a 
foundation  of  a  library.  In  due  time  the  books 
arrived,  and  the  sermons  and  writings  of  that  man  of 
God  were  of  great  benefit  to  me. 

A  blacksmith  by  the  name  of  Hooker  was  con- 
verted in  Doctor  Redfield's  meeting  and  was  soon 
licensed  as  a  local  preacher.  He  was  a  social,  good- 
natured  man,  with  some  natural  talent  but  quite 
limited  in  acquired  abilities.  He  and  I  labored 
together  a  good  deal  in  meetings.  I  was  naturally 
rather  reserved,  but  my  Brother  H.  never  suffered 
from  lack  of  confidence.  At  one  time  as  we  were 
engaged  in  a  revival  meeting  we  were  entertained  by 
a  family  of  very  intelligent,  well-read  Methodist 
people.  Evenings  at  the  close  of  meetings  as  we 
were  seated  around  the  fire  Brother  H.  would  invari- 
ably undertake  to  enlighten  the  family  on  points  of 
theology  and  general  information,  but  the  most 
casual  observer  in  listening  to  the  conversation 
would  at  once  discover  that  the  family  were  much 
better  informed  than  was  the  preacher.  One  even- 
ing as  we  retired  to  our  room  I  expostulated  with 
the  brother  and  said  to  him,  "These  people  are  much 
better  posted  than  we  are."  "I  know,"  he  replied, 
"but  if  you  talk  right  up  to  them  they  will  think  you 


Early  Free  Methodism  35 

know  as  much  as  a  bishop."  The  dear  man  came 
into  the  Free  church  at  its  beginning.  He  labored 
at  Crystal  Lake  and  some  other  points  for  a  year  or 
two  with  some  degree  of  acceptability  and  undoubt- 
edly accomplished  some  good.  He  enlisted  and 
was  elected  captain  of  a  company  in  the  105th  Illi- 
nois Cavalry.  His  army  life  was  brief.  While  out 
one  day  reconnoitering  during  the  seven  days'  bat- 
tle before  Richmond  he  was  shot  through  the  body, 
and,  becoming  too  weak  to  ride,  his  comrades 
assisted  him  to  dismount.  They  placed  him  in  a 
sitting  position,  with  his  back  to  a  tree,  and  as  the 
enemy  was  pressing  them  closely  they  were  obliged 
to  leave  him  to  his  fate.  His  eyes  had  already 
become  glassy  and  the  death  damps  were  on  his 
brow.  Whatever  service  he  may  have  rendered  his 
country,  had  he  remained  in  the  service  of  the  Lord, 
it  undoubtedly  had  been  better  with  his  soul. 

In  the  fall  of  1859  Hooper  Crews,  presiding  elder 
of  Rockford  district,  took  my  name  to  the  annual 
conference  session  and  without  passing  any  exam- 
ination or  even  being  present  I  was  received  into  the 
Rock  River  annual  conference  on  trial.  I  was 
appointed  as  junior  preacher  on  the  Lynnville  cir- 
cuit, lying  some  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  south  of 
Rockford.  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell  was  preacher  in 
charge,     He  was  not  a  member  of  the  conference, 


36  Reminiscences  of 

but  an  ordained  local  elder.  He  had  traveled  for 
years  as  a  colporteur  and  was  good  at  selling  books. 
We  were  opposites  in  our  manner  and  style  of  preach- 
ing. The  old  gentleman  was  slow  and  prosy  and 
like  the  bones  in  Ezekiel's  vision,  very  dry.  I  was 
full  of  zeal,  in  fact  had  a  good  deal  more  zeal  than 
judgment.  At  the  east  end  of  the  circuit  we  had  an 
appointment  in  what  was  known  as  the  Kendrick 
schoolhouse,  so  called  from  a  family  of  that  name 
who  lived  near  by.  And  if  ever  a  saint  wrestled 
with  God  in  prayer  for  souls  Aunt  Polly  Kendrick 
certainly  did.  Securing  the  services  of  my  friend, 
Hooker,  I  held  a  series  of  meetings  at  this  school- 
house.  We  had  a  number  of  converts  and  several 
were  added  to  the  class.  The  converts  came  out  on 
the  fire  line  and  were  quite  demonstrative.  Brother 
C.  and  I  preached  once  in  two  weeks  alternately. 
When  he  came  to  preach  he  was  quite  annoyed 
by  the  demonstrations  and  the  noise.  In  order  to 
correct  what  he  seemed  to  consider  extreme  in  this 
direction  he  would  inform  the  people  that  empty 
wagons  always  made  the  most  noise.  Then  on  my 
round  I  would  tell  them  if  they  would  load  up  with 
the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil,  their  carts  would  not 
make  much  noise.  Being  naturally  diffident  it  was 
a  great  embarrassment  to  go  to  the  houses  of  my 
members   to   stop,  and  I    would    frequently    drive 


Early  Free  Methodism  37 

home  to  my  father's,  nearly  thirty  miles,  rather  than 
trouble  the  people. 

Aunt  Polly  Kendrick  had  quite  a  family  of  chil- 
dren who  are  now  scattered  far  from  the  old  home- 
stead. One  son,  who  at  the  time  of  which  I  write 
was  not  yet  born,  is  how  a  district  elder  in  the  Sus- 
quehanna conference  of  our  church.  Hooper  Crews, 
my  presiding  elder,  was  very  kind  and  did  what  he 
could  to  advise  and  encourage  me  in  the  work.  He 
was  a  fine  type  of  the  old  Virginia  gentleman  and 
a  strong  man  in  the  pulpit. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  i860  I  arranged  for  a 
grove  meeting  at  Lynnville.  I  engaged  Seymour 
Coleman  to  assist,  and  as  there  was  no  very  direct 
railroad  communication  I  sent  a  two-seated  covered 
carriage  across  the  country  to  Aurora  for  Brother 
Coleman  and  wife.  When  they  arrived  a  gentleman, 
a  stranger  to  me,  was  seated  in  front  with  the  driver. 
When  the  formalities  of  meeting  were  over  Brother 
Coleman  turned  and  said,  "This  is  Brother  Travis, 
one  of  our  local  preachers  from  Aurora  whom  I  took 
the  liberty  to  invite  to  accompany  us."  I  welcomed 
Brother  Travis  and  we  soon  set  the  battle  in  array. 
Seymour  Coleman  was  noted  for  his  quaint  way  of 
expressing  himself.  As  one  person  at  this  meeting 
said  to  me,  "  He  talks  so  handy."  A  great  crowd 
came  out  on  Sunday.    We  had  a  grand  love-feast, 


38  Reminiscences  of 

and  just  about  time  for  the  preaching  service  the 
heavens  gathered  blackness  and  it  seemed  every 
moment  as  though  the  storm  would  break  upon  us. 
Father  Coleman  kneeled  down  for  the  opening 
prayer  and  cried  out,  "O  Lord,  keep  back  the  storm 
until  thy  servant  has  delivered  his  message!"  It 
was  a  solemn  and  impressive  scene — that  old  veteran 
of  giant  frame,  with  snow-white  locks  falling  around 
his  massive  brow,  in  the  very  face  of  the  frowning 
heavens  asking  God  to  hold  the  elements  in  check 
that  he  might  declare  his  word.  But  the  God  of 
Elijah  heard  and  answered  his  servant's  prayer. 
Taking  the  sixth  and  seventh  verses  of  the  ninth  of 
Isaiah  for  his  text,  he  preached  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  sermons  on  the  divinity  of  Christ  to 
which  I  ever  listened.  Reaching  the  climax,  in 
demonstration  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus,  in  his  char- 
acteristic way  he  cried  out,  "There!  there  is  no  old 
God  and  his  boy  about  that!" 

As  the  sermon  closed  we  needed  no  prophet  to 
warn  us  as  Ahab  of  old  was  warned,  "  Prepare  and  get 
thee  down  that  the  rain  stop  thee  not,"  for  no  sooner 
had  we  reached  shelter  than  the  rain  poured  in  torrents. 
But  the  heavens  were  not  much  blacker  than  was  the 
face  of  the  wife  of  the  hotel  keeper,  a  bold,  forward 
woman  who  knew  neither  shamefacedness  nor  sobri- 
ety.    She  was  a  Unitarian  Universalist,  and  Father 


Early  Free  Methodism  39 

Coleman  had  completely  annihilated  her  pet  theory. 
Several  of  the  friends  from  Marengo,  were  present 
and  assisted  at  the  services  and  an  influence  went 
out  from  the  meeting  which  told  largely  for  good  all 
over  the  circuit. 


40  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  grove  meeting  spoken  of  in  the  last  chapter  was 
held  about  the  first  of  June,  i860.  I  was  not  married, 
and  at  this  time  was  boarding  with  a  very  pleasant 
Methodist  family  by  the  name  of  Jennings.  I  took 
Brother  Travis  to  my  room,  and  he  enjoyed  the  hos- 
pitality of  this  kind  family.  On  Monday  morning  as 
I  was  arranging  the  conveyance  for  the  return  of 
Brother  and  Sister  Coleman  to  Aurora,  Brother 
Travis  informed  me  that  he  was  to  remain  and 
assist  a  Brother  McGilvary,  a  Wesleyan  Methodist 
preacher,  on  his  circuit.  I  had  no  thought  but  what 
he  would  be  obliged  to  return  home  at  the  close  of 
the  meeting,  and  was  taken  by  surprise,  but  at  once 
said,  "If  you  can  stay  longer  you  certainly  must 
stop  with  me."  Brother  Travis  very  readily  con- 
sented to  this,  and  informed  the  Wesleyan  brother 
he  had  concluded  to  stay  and  assist  Brother  Hart. 

One  morning  Brother  Travis  took  up  the  North- 
western Christian  Advocate  2.wdi  his  eye  fell  on  the  notice 
of  a  camp-meeting  commencing  the  next  week,  to  be 
held  in  Wisconsin.  As  he  read  the  notice  aloud  to 
me  he  said,  "This  notice  is  signed  by  George  Fox, 


Early  Free  Methodism  4 1 

P.  C.  I  don't  know  the  man,  but  I  like  the  ring  of 
the  notice,  suppose  we  attend  the  meeting."  I  said, 
"Very  well,  I  will  get  my  appointments  filled  for  a 
few  Sabbaths  and  we  will  attend  this  meeting,  and 
then  drive  down  and  take  in  the  laymen's  camp- 
meeting  at  St.  Charles,  Illinois."  At  this  time  I  was 
driving  a  little  sorrel  Morgan  mare.  She  was  low 
built  and  heavy,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  limit  to 
her  powers  of  endurance.  I  could  drive  her  sixty  or 
seventy  miles  in  a  day,  and  at  the  end  of  the  journey 
if  no  hay  was  to  be  had  she  seemed  just  as  thankful 
for  hazel  brush.  Early  in  the  morning  we  hitched  up 
"Pet"  and  started  north.  We  drove  to  Beloit,  and 
the  first  night  stayed  with  the  Methodist  parson. 
Getting  an  early  start,  we  struck  out  the  next  day 
for  Janesville.  When  about  twenty  miles  north  of 
Beloit  we  espied  a  jack  standing  in  a  pasture  and 
demurely  gazing  over  the  fence  into  the  road.  I 
noticed  that  my  pony  was  a  little  skittish,  but  urged 
her  along;  when,  just  before  we  reached  the  beast  he 
gave  one  of  those  horrible  brays  for  which  such  ani- 
mals are  eminent,  and  the  pony  whirled  like  a  flash 
and  cramped  and  tipped  the  buggy  just  enough  to 
land  Brother  Travis  and  myself,  together  with  the 
robes,  grips,  etc.,  in  the  dust. 

The  country  was  quite  rolling,  and  by  the  time 
we  could  gather  ourselves  up  the  horse  and  buggy 


42  Reminiscences  o* 

were  disappearing  over  the  summit  of  a  hill.  Brother 
Travis  seemed  to  consider  it  quite  a  joke,  but  I 
thought  to  myself,  "  You  may  laugh,  but  the  outfit 
belongs  to  me."  Picking  up  blankets  and  grips,  etc., 
we  started  back  after  the  fleeing  horse.  We  walked 
perhaps  a  mile  when  we  discovered  a  team  coming 
with  a  horse  and  buggy  following.  I  soon  saw  by  a 
peculiar  way  she  had  of  tossing  her  head  that  it  was 
my  pony.  It  seems  she  had  become  tired  of  running, 
and  when  the  man  with  the  team  met  her  she  was 
walking  leisurely  along,  and  the  man,  concluding  she 
belonged  to  somebody  in  the  direction  she  came 
from,  hitched  her  behind  his  wagon  and  brought  her 
to  us.  We  thanked  the  man  for  his  kindness,  and 
when  on  examination  I  found  that  no  damage  had 
been  done  but  that  everything  was  intact,  I  laughed 
too. 

Late  at  night  after  a  long  day's  drive  we  reached 
the  camp-ground.  We  found  Brother  Fox,  and  he 
arranged  for  our  entertainment.  The  presiding 
elder  had  charge  of  the  meeting,  and  in  the  morning 
he  questioned  us  as  to  who  we  were,  and  I  informed 
him  that  I  was  a  member  on  trial  in  the  Rock  River 
conference  and  junior  preacher  on  the  Lynnville  cir- 
cuit, and  that  Brother  Travis  was  a  local  preacher 
from  the  Aurora  charge.  That  evening  the  elder, 
I  presume  because  I  was  a  conference  preacher,  put 


Early  Free  Methodism  43 

me  up  to  preach.  I  did  the  best  I  could,  but  no 
great  degree  of  enthusiasm  was  awakened,  and  at  the 
close  no  one  came  up  to  congratulate  me  on  the  suc- 
cess of  my  effort.  When  Brother  Travis  and  myself 
got  alone  he  said,  "You  have  spoiled  my  chances  for 
preaching  here,  and  I  don't  think  you  will  have  an- 
other opportunity."  And  true  enough,  neither  of  us 
was  called  on  to  preach  after  that.  The  elder  gave 
us  quite  a  severe  letting  alone,  for  I  presume  he  had 
heard  of  the  Redfieldites  and  concluded  that  I  at 
least  was  badly  tinctured. 

Leaving  the  camp-ground,  we  started  southeast 
for  the  laymen's  camp-meeting.  On  our  way  we 
took  in  Marengo  and  stayed  one  night  at  my  father's. 
When  he  learned  that  I  was  going  to  the  camp- 
meeting  he  was  greatly  exercised,  and  taking  me  one 
side  said  he  would  give  me  a  hundred  dollars  if  I 
would  not  go.  I  told  him  I  wanted  to  see  for  myself 
and  had  decided  to  go.  Driving  along  the  next  day, 
Brother  Travis  was  full  of  inquiries  about  these 
people,  for  he  had  concluded  from  what  he  had 
heard  of  them  that  they  were  a  rough,  boisterous 
set,  with  little  or  no  culture  or  refinement. 

We  were  late  in  starting  from  Marengo  and  it  was 
late  at  night  when  we  reached  Saint  Charles,  so  we 
decided  to  stop  for  the  night  at  the  hotel  in  the  vil- 
lage and  go  to  the  ground  in  the  morning.   Early  on 


44  Reminiscences  of 

Friday  morning  we  drove  on  to  the  camp-groimd. 
There  was  a  large  circle  of  tents  in  one  of  the  finest 
groves  for  camp-meeting  purposes  I  ever  saw.  The 
grove  belonged  to  Brother  J.  M.  Laughlin.  Their 
large  dwelling  stood  near,  and  on  such  occasions  as 
this  they  kept  "open  house."  I  was  acquainted  with 
nearly  all  the  tent-holders,  and  so  introduced  my 
traveling  companion.  Brother  Travis  greatly  desired 
to  meet  Doctor  Redfield,  so  I  looked  him  up  and 
gave  him  an  introduction.  I  excused  myself  and 
left  them  together.  About  two  hours  after,  meeting 
Brother  Travis,  I  inquired  how  he  liked  Doctor  Red- 
field.  Evincing,  for  him,  a  great  degree  of  enthusi- 
asm,  he  replied:  "Why,  I  learned  more  theology  in 
two  hours'  conversation  with  that  man  than  I  ever 
knew  before."  They  soon  had  Brother  Travis  up  to 
preach.  He  had  given  me  to  understand  very  dis- 
tinctly that  he  never  would  leave  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  to  go  with  this  people.  Judge  of 
my  surprise,  then,  when  I  heard  him,  as  he  warmed 
up  in  his  sermon,  exclaim,  "If  you  will  take  me  I 
will  join  you  and  go  wherever  you  send  me."  He 
was  received  and  sent  to  Saint  Louis,  Missouri. 

Here  for  the  first  time  I  met  Rev.  B.  T.  Roberts. 
He  was  about  thirty-seven  years  of  age  and  in  the 
prime  of  his  manhood.  With  a  Roman  cast  of  coun- 
tenance, high,  full  forehead   surrounded  with  hair 


Early  Free  Methodism  45 

black  as  a  raven's  wing,  I  thought  he  was  one  of  the 
finest  looking  men  I  had  ever  seen.  The  meeting 
was  well  under  way  when  we  reached  the  ground, 
and  certainly  there  seemed  to  be  no  one  at  all  dis- 
posed to  "hold"  it.  That  there  was  much  of  divine 
power  manifested  no  one  could  question,  and  that 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  the  rankest  fanaticism  no 
one  in  his  right  senses  could  deny.  Someone  in- 
quired of  Father  Seymour  Coleman  about  some  of 
the  extravagant  demonstrations.  The  old  gentleman 
replied,  "The  fact  is,  these  people  have  suffered  so 
much  from  ecclesiastical  bondage  in  the  churches 
that  now  they  are  free  they  are  like  young  colts  let 
loose  and  don't  know  how  to  act."  Like  the  indul- 
gences of  Tetsel  of  old,  gifts  were  on  the  market,  but 
to  be  dispensed  without  money  and  without  price. 
Doctor  Redfield  had  the  general  oversight  of  the 
meeting,  but  the  most  he  would  do  was  in  a  good 
natured  way  to  speak  out  from  the  stand,  "If  the 
devil  tells  any  of  you  to  stand  on  your  head,  don't 
do  it."  But  the  good  Lord  knew  that  the  people 
were  honestly  seeking  to  be  right,  and  in  his  love 
and  mercy  he  let  showers  of  blessing  fall  on  them. 

The  camp-meeting  went  on  with  increasing  power. 
One  day  as  the  testimony  meeting  was  at  a  high  tide 
Doctor  Redfield  called  out  from  the  stand,  "  Mattie, 
sing  Gideon,"  when   the   Bishop  girl,  stepping  out 


46  Reminiscences  of 

into   the   aisle,    in   a  strong,    clear   voice    began    to 

sing: 

"  See  Gideon  marching  out  to  fight, 
See  Gideon  marching  out  to  fight, 
See  Gideon  marching  out  to  fight, 
He  had  no  weapon  but  a  light. 
If  you  belong  to  Gideon's  band, 
Here's  my  heart  and  here's  my  hand, 
We're  fighting  for  a  home." 

Before  the  first  verse  was  finished  the  camp- 
ground was  in  an  uproar  of  excitement,  and  the  slain 
of  the  Lord  were  many.  There  were  many  instances 
of  remarkable  conversions  at  this  meeting,  and  many 
entered  into  the  experience  of  entire  sanctification. 
Quite  a  number  were  present  from  Saint  Louis. 
These  represented  the  work  raised  up  by  Doctor 
Redfield  in  that  city. 

During  this  meeting  the  first  convention  in  con- 
nection with  the  work  in  the  West  was  held  on  a  rail 
pile  near  Brother  Laughlin's  house.  The  work  was 
all  in  a  formative  state,  and  the  preachers  had  to 
depend  largely  on  raising  up  their  own  circuits.  I 
stated  to  the  convention  that  I  felt  I  ought  to  remain 
on  my  charge  until  fall,  and  then  if  they  had  any 
work  for  me  I  would  be  ready  to  take  it.  Brother 
Travis  went  from  the  camp-ground  to  his  new  field 
in  Saint  Louis,  and  I  returned  to  my  circuit.  I 
labored  on  until  about  the  first  of  August,  when, 
having  fully  decided  that  "  It  is  not  good  that  man 


Early  Free  Methodism  47 

should  be  alone,"  on  the  ninth  day  of  August,  i860, 
with  a  few  invited  friends,  I  made  my  way  to  a  cozy 
farmhouse  on  Kishwaukee  Prairie,  where  at  about 
six  p.  m,.  Rev.  I.  H.  Fairchilds  officiating,  the  mar- 
riage ceremony  was  performed,  and  the  Bishop  girl 
as  such  lost  her  identity  and  henceforth  in  these 
papers  will  be  referred  to  as  my  wife.  Or  the  two 
made  one  may  be  known,  not  by  the  editorial,  but 
by  the  plural  personal  pronoun  we. 

The  next  Sabbath  found  us  on  the  circuit  and  at 
the  morning  appointment.  I  suspect  the  good  lady 
by  whom  we  were  entertained  thought  the  young 
preacher's  wife  was  most  too  plainly  attired  for  a 
bride,  for  she  made  several  suggestions  as  to  her 
dress  and  did  what  she  could  to  make  her  presenta- 
ble to  the  congregation;  **  for,"  said  she,  "you  know 
they  will  all  be  looking  at  you."  We  got  along  with- 
out any  great  degree  of  embarrassment.  I  preached 
the  best  I  could,  and  by  the  time  my  wife  was 
through  with  her  exhortation  fashion  plates  had 
passed  out  of  mind. 

One  Sabbath  not  long  after  this  we  reached 
Lynnville.  The  hotel  keeper's  wife  was  out,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  service  gave  expression  to  some  very 
decided  remarks  in  criticism  of  my  sermon.  "The 
fact  is,"  she  said,  "when  you  get  out  of  matter  and 
don't  know  what  to  say  you  pitch  on  to  the  Univer- 


48  Reminiscences  of 

salists.  I  want  you  to  understand  I  have  seen  Uni- 
versalists  die,  and  they  are  just  as  good  as  anybody." 
When  the  woman  closed  her  tirade  my  wife  struck 
up  and  sang,  "I  am  glad  salvation  is  free,"  and  I 
closed  with  the  benediction.  As  the  woman  passed 
out  of  the  house  she  was  heard  to  say,  "If  I  had 
known  they  would  take  it  that  way  I  wouldn't  have 
said  anything." 

At  the  close  of  the  conference  year  we  returned 
to  Marengo.  I  wrote  my  presiding  elder  to  have  my 
name  discontinued.  I  took  my  letter  from  the 
church  and  wrote  to  Aurora,  where  it  was  understood 
I  was  to  be  appointed,  that  I  was  ready  to  come.  But 
the  brethren  there  were  very  anxious  to  have  Seymour 
Coleman,  who  had  labored  so  successfully  there  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  and  seemed  almost 
decided  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  them,  take  the  charge. 
So  we  were  without  work,  and,  so  far  as  we  could 
see,  without  any  immediate  prospect  of  having  any. 
My  parents  were  opposed  to  my  leaving  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  and  now  that  no  way  was 
open  for  us  in  the  new  church,  were  well  convinced 
that  we  were  out  of  the  divine  order.  In  our  strait 
my  wife  and  myself  laid  the  matter  before  the  Lord 
and  decided  we  would  step  into  the  first  open  door. 
The  new  presiding  elder  on  his  way  from  conference 
stopped  at  my  father's.     He  informed  us  that  Elder 


Early  Free  Methodism  49 

Crews  held  my  letter  till  the  last  day  of  the  session, 
hoping  I  would  change  my  mind.  The  elder  told 
what  a  fine  circuit  they  had  me  down  for,  and  then 
said,  "I  want  you  to  hold  yourself  in  readiness,  for  I 
shall  have  work  for  you  the  second  quarter  if  not  the 
first."  Ard  so  it  began  to  look  as  though  we  had 
made  d  mistake  and  must  retrace  our  steps. 


50  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  fall  of  i860  was  a  time  of  great  political  excite- 
ment. The  country  was  on  the  verge  of  the  great 
rebellion.  The  darkened  horizon  and  the  muttering 
thunder  told  of  the  fearful  storm  which  was  to  break 
on  the  land.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  candidate  of  the 
Republican  party  and  Mr.  Douglas  and  others  repre- 
sented different  phases  of  the  Democracy.  Senator 
Hale,  of  New  Hampshire,  was  advertised  to  speak  in 
the  park  at  Marengo,  and  I  went  down  to  hear  him. 
On  my  return  I  stepped  into  my  father's  store  to  write, 
and  while  standing  at  the  desk  three  men  came  in,  one 
of  whom  I  recognized  as  a  Brother  Merriman,  of 
Garden  Prairie.  He  gave  me  an  introduction  to  the 
others,  one  as  David  Cooper  and  the  other  as  John 
Horan,  both  of  Belvidere.  These  men  were  good 
types  of  the  intelligent,  uncompromising  Irish  gen- 
tleman. Mr.  Cooper  at  once  said,  "We  have  come 
to  see  if  we  can  get  you  to  go  to  Belvidere  to 
preach."  I  replied,  "Yes,  sir;  will  you  be  ready  for 
me  by  next  Sunday?"  He  seemed  a  little  taken 
aback,  and  said,  "No,  not  quite  as  soon  as  that,  but 
we  will  be  ready  by  the  following  Sabbath."     "Very 


Early  Free  Methodism  51 

well,"  I  replied,  "I  have  an  appointment  next  Sun- 
day morning  at  Garden  Prairie.  Come  up  to  that 
and  let  me  know  how  you  succeed  in  getting  a 
place,"  etc.  They  agreed  to  this,  and  returned  to 
Belvidere.  Brother  Cooper  told  me  afterwards  that 
he  was  greatly  surprised  at  my  ready  response  to  his 
request.  He  said  he  thought  I  would  make  some 
inquiries  at  least  as  to  support.  He  did  not  under- 
stand the  state  of  mind  I  was  in,  and  that  I  at  once 
recognized  this  as  the  first  open  door. 

The  next  Sabbath  Brothers  Cooper  and  Horan 
were  at  Garden  Prairie,  and  reported  that  they  had 
secured  an  old  vacant  Universalist  church  for  our 
meeting.  Brother  Cooper  had  attended  a  grove 
meeting  held  by  Brother  Roberts  at  Bonus  Prairie 
immediately  after  the  Saint  Charles  camp-meeting. 
He  professed  religion,  but  his  grace  was  strongly  of 
the  combative  sort.  Mr.  Horan  made  no  profession. 
At  the  appointed  time  the  following  Sabbath  morning 
we  were  at  the  church  ready  for  action.  By  some 
mistake  Lucius  Matlack,  a  prominent  Wesleyan 
Methodist  preacher,  and  myself  had  appointments 
in  that  same  house  at  the  same  hour.  As  Mr.  Mat- 
lack  took  in  the  situation  he  quite  decidedly  stated 
that  he  did  not  care  to  occupy  the  position  of  a  con- 
testant for  a  pulpit,  and  withdrew.  I  went  on  with 
my  meeting,  and  gave  notice  that  Doctor  Redfield 


52  Reminiscences  of 

would  preach  there  that  evening.  At  night  the 
house  was  crowded  and  the  doctor  preached  one  of 
his  characteristic  sermons,  the  last  I  ever  heard  him 
preach  that  was  at  all  like  himself.  In  about  a  week 
after  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis,  and  as  far  as 
preaching  was  concerned  his  labors  were  at  an  end. 
We  drove  across  the  country  with  the  doctor  and  his 
wife  to  Ogle  county,  where  the  doctor  preached  in 
a  schoolhouse  where  Brother  Terrill  had  already 
organized  a  class.  From  there  he  went  on  his  way 
to  Aurora,  where,  at  the  home  of  Rev.  Judah  Mead, 
he  was  disabled. 

Brother  Terrill  had  raised  up  a  good  class  in  Ogle 
county.  J.  W.  Dake  sold  out  his  farm  and  went  into 
the  work,  and  in  a  few  years  had  all  his  earthly  pos- 
sessions invested  in  heavenly  stock.  U.  C.  Rose,  a 
physician,  soon  commenced  preaching,  and  Sylvester 
Forbes,  quite  an  eccentric  character,  became  promi- 
nent in  the  work  both  in  Illinois  and  in  Michigan. 
A  church  was  built  at  Ogle  Station  and  several  pow- 
erful camp-meetings  were  held  in  the  vicinity.  The 
members  became  scattered.  The  Martins  went  to 
Kansas  and  settled  near  Osborne  City,  and  a  circuit 
was  raised  up  in  that  county.  We  held  on  for  a 
while  in  the  Universalist  church  at  Belvidere  and 
then  rented  a  vacant  Congregationalist  church,  which 
was  in  a  better  locality  and  much  more  convenient. 


Early  Free  Methodism  53 

In  a  few  weeks  I  decided  to  hold  special  revival  ser- 
vices. I  had  my  plans  laid  to  get  Doctor  Redfield 
to  assist  when  I  needed  help  in  revivals,  but  now  that 
the  doctor  was  laid  aside  I  was  thrown  back  on  the 
Lord. 

We  commenced  the  meeting  and  soon  quite  an 
interest  was  awakened.  The  friends  came  from 
Marengo  and  vicinity,  and  the  house  became  alto- 
gether too  small  to  accommodate  the  crowds.  Father 
Collier,  an  old  English  class-leader,  and  others  took 
their  stand  and  the  work  moved  on  in  power.  Prom- 
inent ladies  would  come  at  an  early  hour  for  the 
evening  meeting,  and,  finding  the  door  locked,  in 
their  eagerness  to  get  in  and  secure  a  seat  would 
raise  the  sash  of  the  window  and  climb  from  the 
platform  into  the  house.  Brother  Harroun  assisted 
in  the  meetings  for  a  while,  and  Brother  Wood,  the 
local  preacher  from  Marengo,  rendered  efficient  ser- 
vice. I  do  not  remember  just  the  number  of  con- 
verts, but  if  my  memory  is  not  at  fault  I  organized  a 
society  of  fifty  or  more.  I  took  in  some  of  the  scat- 
tered ones  around  Marengo,  and  here  I  received  my 
wife  into  the  church;  for  although  we  had  not  yet 
received  the  Discipline  we  were  beginning  to  be 
known  as  Free  Methodists. 

Not  long  after  this  I  attended  a  meeting  at  Clin- 
tonville,  where  the  Discipline  was  formally  adopted. 


54  Reminiscences  of 

We  soon  bought  the  church  building  in  which  we 
worshiped.  We  labored  on  until  the  following  sum- 
mer, when  James  Mathews  came  on  from  the  East 
and  took  the  work.  Since  that  time  the  work  at 
Belvidere  has  passed  through  severe  testings  and  has 
had  times  of  sifting,  but  I  believe  the  fire  has  never 
been  entirely  extinguished  on  its  altar.  A  class  was 
organized  at  Garden  Prairie  and  also  one  on  Bonus 
Prairie. 

Many  of  the  friends  at  Marengo  had  expressed  a 
desire  for  a  meeting  at  that  point;  so,  with  our  labors 
concluded  at  Belvidere,  I  informed  them  I  was  ready 
to  go  to  their  help.  But  now  when  the  test  had 
come  it  appeared  to  them  to  be  assuming  quite  a 
responsibility  to  step  out  of  a  strong,  well-appointed 
organization  into  an  embryo  church  not  yet  fairly 
out  of  the  shell.  I  at  once  took  in  the  situation, 
and,  in  order  to  save  them  from  embarrassment  and 
myself  from  the  charge  of  proselyting,  I  did  not  ask 
anyone  to  become  responsible  for  hall  rent,  but  took 
advantage  of  the  pleasant  evenings  of  June  and  com- 
menced meetings  in  the  street.  Street  meetings 
were  a  new  feature  in  that  section,  and  on  Sunday 
nights  we  soon  had  large  congregations,  the  people 
driving  in  from  the  country  to  witness  the  novel 
scene.  The  Lord  was  so  manifestly  in  the  movement 
that  the  good  brethren  were  not  slow  to  fall  in  line 


Early  Free  Methodism  55 

and  authorized  me  to  engage  Metropolitan  Hall,  the 
largest  hall  in  town,  for  our  meetings. 

Judah  Mead,  of  Aurora,  had  joined  our  people 
and  was  acting  as  chairman  over  the  work.  I  sent 
for  him  to  come  and  hold  a  quarterly  meeting  for 
me.  We  had  a  memorable  prayer-meeting  on  the 
Saturday  evening  of  that  occasion.  It  was  a  very 
warm  evening,  and  up  in  the  hall,  with  windows 
overlooking  the  town  thrown  wide  open,  a  sound 
went  forth  that  to  some  of  the  people  seemed  almost 
enough  to  wake  the  dead.  My  father  especially, 
who  was  a  class-leader  and  quite  a  stickler  for  the 
old  church,  was  greatly  exercised  and  felt  himself 
forever  and  irretrievably  disgraced.  On  Sunday 
morning  we  had  a  grand  love-feast,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  communion  service  I  had  thought  to  organize 
a  class,  but  being  a  little  doubtful  as  to  a  very  gen- 
eral response  I  concluded  to  transfer  my  Vermont 
street  class,  organized  some  time  before,  to  Marengo, 
and  announcing  the  fact  of  transfer  I  said,  "We  now 
have  a  Free  Methodist  church  in  Marengo,  and  if 
any  wish  to  unite  they  can  now  have  the  oppor- 
tunity." Brother  E.  G.  Wood,  my  local  preacher 
friend,  my  mother.  Sister  Coon  and  Sister  Minerva 
Barron  stepped  out,  answered  the  questions  of  the 
Discipline,  and  were  duly  voted  in.  Others  soon 
followed. 


^6  Reminiscences  of 

One  Sunday  morning  Daniel  B.,  the  village  dray- 
man, came  into  meeting  and  in  his  quaint  way  an- 
nounced his  determination  to  go  with  us.  Brother 
B.  was  sexton  at  the  cemetery,  and  this  was  about 
the  way  in  which  he  made  known  to  us  his  desire  to 
unite:  "  Oh,"  said  he,  **  how  mean  I  have  been!  As 
I  was  praying  over  the  matter  of  church  relation  1 
told  the  Lord  that  wherever  he  blessed  me  there 
should  be  my  home.  I  came  here  to  meeting  and 
got  so  blessed  that  as  I  went  out  into  the  burying- 
ground  hallelujahs  as  big  as  hogsheads  rolled  all 
around  me,  and  then  I  didn't  join.  Now  if  you'll 
take  me  I  want  to  join  to-day." 

We  bought  a  centrally  located  lot,  moved  back 
the  old  building  standing  on  it,  tore  out  the  parti- 
tions, made  some  seats,  and  had  a  room  which  would 
accommodate  about  two  hundred.  In  this  room  we 
held  meetings  through  the  winter;  at  times  it  was 
packed  almost  to  suffocation.  In  the  spring  we 
began  the  erection  of  a  church,  and  when  completed 
we  moved  in  with  a  membership  which,  as  near  as  I 
remember,  numbered  about  one  hundred.  It  was 
during  the  building  of  this  church  that  Marengo  was 
visited  with  a  fearful  tornado,  which  carried  death 
and  destruction  in  its  track.  We  got  the  people 
together  that  evening  in  our  place  of  worship,  and 
with  the  assistance  of  Brother   Frank  Shepardson, 


Early  Free  Methodism  57 

who  was  with  us,  we  were  able  to  exhort  the  people 
to  repentance  and  salvation,  from  the  words  "The 
wages  of  sin  is  death,  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal 
life  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

That  fall  I  was  sent  by  conference  to  Saint  Charles, 
Geneva,  Batavia,  Wheaton,  etc.  Borrowing  Doctor 
Redfield's  horse  and  two-seated  carriage,  I  took  my 
wife  and  our  four  weeks'  old  baby  girl  and  bidding 
good-by  to  the  friends  at  Marengo  we  made  our  way 
to  our  new  field  of  labor.  It  was  a  large  circuit,  but 
we  had  considerable  help.  William  Morrison,  our 
"sweet  singer  in  Israel,"  and  other  local  preachers 
rendered  efficient  aid;  besides,  we  had  a  junior 
preacher  sent  by  conference.  I  don't  remember  his 
name,  but  his  manner  of  preaching  can  never  escape 
my  memory.  He  would  soar  so  high  that  all  good 
effect  of  his  preaching  was  lost  on  the  congregation 
"in  the  fearful  apprehension  as  to  his  ever  being  able 
to  get  safely  down  to  earth  again. 


jS  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Perhaps  a  chapter  made  up  of  incidents  in  connec- 
tion with  the  work  at  Belvidere  and  Marengo  may 
be  of  interest  and  profit. 

Mr.  Horan  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  work  at 
Belvidere,  and  finally  presented  himself  at  the  altar 
for  prayers.  We  prayed  for  him  and  urged  him  to 
pray,  but  could  not  prevail  on  him  to  open  his  mouth. 
Afterwards,  in  conversation  with  him  at  his  house, 
he  said,  "Mr.  Hart,  if  my  salvation  depends  on  my 
praying  aloud  at  the  altar  I  cannot  be  saved.  Not 
that  I  have  any  objection  to  it,  but  I  simply  cannot." 
I  replied :  "  Mr.  Horan,  before  you  get  blessed  I 
think  you  will  pray." 

He  was  switchman  at  the  depot  and  attended  to 
making  up  the  trains.  One  cold  morning,  the  ground 
covered  with  snow  and  ice,  as  he  was  switching  cars 
he  attempted  to  jump  on  to  the  rear  end  of  a  train 
which  was  backing  down  to  a  switch,  when  his  feet 
slipped  and  he  fell  between  the  tracks  under  the 
train.  The  train  was  not  moving  very  rapidly,  but 
he  knew  if  he  remained  there  until  the  engine  should 
reach  him,  it  being  so  much  nearer  the  ground,  he 


Early  Free  Methodism  ^9 

would  be  crushed  to  death.  By  a  great  effort  he 
threw  himself  out  between  the  wheels  of  the  moving 
train  and  escaped  with  his  feet  badly  mangled.  They 
conveyed  him  at  once  to  his  home.  The  surgeon 
came,  dressed  his  wounds,  and  made  him  as  com- 
fortable as  he  could.  I  was  then  sent  for.  I  made 
my  way  to  the  house,  and  as  I  entered  the  room  I 
found  him  bolstered  up  in  a  large  chair,  his  feet  rest- 
ing on  cushions.  As  he  caught  sight  of  me  he 
reached  out  his  hand,  and  with  a  good  deal  of  emo- 
tion cried  out,  '*0,  Mr.  Hart,  if  there  had  been  five 
hundred  men  around  that  train  they  would  have 
heard  me  calling  on  God  for  mercy  ! " 

A  lady  who  had  been  converted  in  the  meeting 
came  forward  one  evening  to  seek  the  experience  of 
a  clean  heart.  As  she  was  going  through  with  her 
consecration,  amid  her  sobs  and  groans  she  would 
cry  out,  "Oh,  how  can  I  give  her  up?  How  can  I 
give  her  up?"  My  wife,  kneeling  by  her  side,  said, 
"Sister,  lay  all  on  the  altar."  Turning  to  my  wife, 
with  deep  feeling  she  said,  "  It  seems  to  me  if  I  put 
my  little  girl  on  the  altar  that  God  will  take  her  out 
of  the  world."  The  only  reply  was,  "Sister,  lay  all 
on  the  altar."  Finally  she  cried  out,  "It  is  done; 
she  is  the  Lord's." 

That  consecration  was  tested,  for  in  a  few  weeks 
I  was  called  upon  to  preach  the  funeral  sermon  pf 


6o  Reminiscences  of 

that  little  girl.  I  never  shall  forget  as  that  mother 
stood  beside  the  open  coffin  and  for  the  last  time 
looked  on  the  marble-like  features  of  her  dead  child, 
how,  with  uplifted  eyes  as  she  looked  through  the 
blinding  tears,  in  tones  of  triumph  she  cried,  "The 
Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away;  blessed 
be  the  name  of  the  Lord."  You  may  say,  "It  is 
hard  thus  to  consecrate  and  dedicate  our  loved  ones 
to  the  Lord."  But  what  did  the  grace  of  God  do  for 
that  mother?  I  answer,  it  prepared  her  for  the  trial. 
The  severing  of  the  tenderest  cords  of  our  nature — 
the  snapping  of  heart-strings — must  sooner  or  later 
come;  and  God  in  his  mercy  proposes  to  prepare  us 
for  the  test. 

In  our  first  meeting  at  Marengo  a  resolute  woman 
by  the  name  of  Church  was  soundly  converted  and 
became  an  active  worker.  She  had  some  sons  who 
were  exceptionally  bright.  She  learned  that  one  of 
her  boys  was  frequenting  the  only  saloon  with  which 
the  village  was  ornamented.  One  day  she  visited 
the  establishment,  and  finding  her  boy  there  led  him 
to  the  door.  Then,  stepping  back,  she  took  the 
broom  and  literally  swept  the  shelves  and  bar  clean. 
Demijohns  and  bottles  came  down  with  a  crash,  and 
the  contents  were  past  gathering  up.  She  never  was 
prosecuted,  for  Lawyer  Coon,  whatever  else  he  was 
or  was  not,  was  a  good  temperance  advocate,  and  he 


Early  Free  Methodism  6l 

assured  her  he  would  defend  her.  She  seemed  to 
be  possessed  of  a  spirit  akin  to  that  by  which  Mrs. 
Nation  of  Kansas  is  being  impelled.  But  what 
about  her  movement?  Do  you  know  that  when 
moral  sensibilities  become  benumbed  and  Satan  is 
having  things  about  his  own  way  the  Lord  some- 
times stirs  up  someone  to  deeds,  which  from  the 
standpoint  of  human  selfishness,  and  which,  judged 
by  the  standard  of  unjust  human  laws,  seem  to  be 
extreme  and  altogether  out  of  place?  Take,  for 
instance,  the  cases  of  Gideon  and  of  Samson;  the 
heroes  of  Boston  Harbor  in  the  destruction  of  the 
tea;  and  in  later  years  that  of  John  Brown.  I  don't 
know  but  in  these  days  of  criminal  apathy  with 
reference  to  the  liquor  traffic  the  Lord  is  stirring  this 
woman  to  deeds  of  noble  daring.  I  earnestly  pray 
that  in  all  except  the  hanging  she  may  prove  to  be 
the  John  Brown  and  forerunner  of  emancipation 
from  the  power  of  King  Alcohol;  that  in  all  except 
the  beheading  she  may  prove  to  be  the  John  the 
Baptist  and  herald  of  the  gospel  of  universal  pro- 
hibition. 

The  first  year  I  was  on  the  Marengo  work.  Garden 
Prairie  and  other  points  were  included  in  the  circuit. 
J.  W.  Dake  was  junior  preacher.  Brother  Dake  was 
fresh  from  the  farm,  and  being  naturally  diffident 
under  the   most   favorable   circumstances  it  was  a 


62  Reminiscences  of 

great  cross  for  him  to  attempt  to  preach.  One  Sab- 
bath I  was  to  be  away  and  told  Brother  Dake  he 
must  take  the  Sunday  evening  appointment  in  the 
street  at  Marengo.  The  time  for  the  street  service 
arrived,  but  Brother  Dake  could  not  be  found.  The 
cross  was  so  heavy  the  poor  man  hid  himself  that  he 
might  not  be  found  and  taken  to  the  meeting.  A 
Brother  F.,  a  local  preacher,  was  present  and  talked 
the  best  he  could.  Lawyer  Coon,  although  greatly 
incensed  because  his  wife  would  shout  and  sing  and 
pray,  seemed  to  have  an  underlying  desire  for  the 
success  of  our  work.  Quite  a  number  of  times  in  my 
financial  straits  he  manifested  this  desire  in  render- 
ing me  material  aid.  That  Sunday  evening  the 
lawyer  was  in  the  congregation.  At  the  close  of  the 
service  in  a  petulent  tone  he  exclaimed,  "  Hart  was 
away,  Dake  didn't  come,  and  F.  tried  to  preach," 
and,  making  some  ridiculous  remark,  turned  away. 
I  don't  think  Brother  Dake  ever  attempted  to  dodge 
the  cross  after  that. 

After  the  Discipline  with  its  rule  forbidding  con- 
nection with  secret  societies  came  out,  I  began  more 
closely  to  investigate  the  subject  of  secrecy.  I  be- 
came thoroughly  convinced  that  oath-bound  secret 
societies  were  wrong,  both  in  principle  and  in  prac- 
tice. So  I  not  only  abstained  from  connection  with 
the  lodge,  but  in  organizing   societies  I  gave  the 


Early  Free  Methodism  63 

grounds  on  which  we  objected  to  secretism  and  rea- 
sons for  the  rule  in  our  book  of  discipline.  Of 
course  this  subjected  me  to  labor,  and  I  was  waited 
on  by  the  master  of  the  lodge,  who  informed  me  that 
a  special  meeting  had  been  called  for  the  following 
Wednesday  evening,  and  requested  me,  with  others 
who  were  delinquent  in  the  payment  of  dues,  to  be 
present.  I  informed  him  I  would  either  be  there  or 
write  them  a  letter.  I'wrote  them  a  letter  and  stated 
to  them  that  I  had  consecrated  myself,  with  all  the 
powers  of  my  being,  to  the  advancement  of  the 
kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  that  after  careful 
investigation  I  was  convinced  that  Masonry,  both  in 
principle  and  in  practice,  was  in  opposition  to  that 
kingdom,  and  that  as  an  honest  man  I  could  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  it.  I  closed  in  Masonic 
language  by  saying,  "You  can  take  due  notice  hereof 
and  govern  yourselves  accordingly."  Not  long  after 
I  received  a  notice  informing  me  that  I  was  expelled 
for  non-payment  of  dues  and  other  gross  unmasonic 
conduct.  I  was  tempted  and  considerably  perplexed. 
One  day  I  went  down  town,  and  seeing  the  village 
drayman,  who  was  a  member  of  the  order,  ran  out 
and  jumped  on  to  the  dray  and  told  him  what  I  had 
received  and  how  I  felt.  He  at  once  inquired, 
"What  of  it?"  I  answered,  "You  know  it  is  a  pow- 
erful order,  and  as  I  am  going  out  to  preach  if  they 


64  Reminiscences  of 

are  so  disposed  they  can  do  me  great  injury."  With 
a  look  of  surprise  he  inquired,  "Where  is  your  faith 
in  God?"  In  my  anxiety  I  had  failed  to  view  the 
matter  in  this  light.  But  that  settled  it  with  me. 
Not  many  days  after  in  passing  along  the  street  I 
met  the  drayman,  and  by  a  nod  of  the  head  he  mo- 
tioned me  to  his  side.  As  I  stood  by  him,  in  his 
quaint  way  he  said,  "Brother  Ed.,  I  didn't  think  it 
would  make  a  feller  feel  so."  I  said,  "What's  the 
matter.  Brother  Dan?"  "  I  have  got  one  of  them  ar' 
notices,"  he  replied,  "and  they  are  crowding  me  on 
bills  I  am  owing  and  making  it  warm  for  me."  I 
answered,  "All  I  can  say  to  you  is  what  you  said  to 
me,  'Where  is  your  faith  in  God?'"  and  left  him. 
In  a  few  days  I  met  him  again.  His  great  fat  face 
was  in  a  broad  grin,  and  he  exclaimed,  "It's  all 
right!  It's  all  right!"  "Ah!"  I  inquired,  "how  is 
that?"  He  replied,  "You  know  old  Mr.  Smyth  died 
over  north?"  "Yes."  "Well,  I  was  digging  the 
grave  to-day,  and  as  I  dug  I  kept  thinking  over  the 
matter  of  that  notice,  and  when  I  had  finished  the 
digging  I  made  a  hole  about  six  inches  deep  in  the 
bottom  of  the  grave,  and  putting  the  notice  in  the 
hole  covered  it  up,  and  getting  down  on  my  knees 
called  on  God  for  victory,  and  I  got  it.  And  now," 
said  he,  "  it's  buried  in  the  bottom  of  old  Mr.  Smyth's 
grave  and  it  will  never  come  up  till  the  resurrection." 


Early  Free  Methodism  65 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

At  about  the  beginning  of  our  work  at  Marengo  I 
preached  one  Sabbath   evening  on  the  street  from 
the  text,  "Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they 
shall  see  God."     In  the  hotel  across  the  way,  in  one 
of  the  front  rooms,  was  lying  a  man  very  low  with 
typhoid  fever.     He  was  a  grain  buyer.     He  and  his 
brother  were  in  business  together.     The  brother  was 
not  married,  but  the  one  of  whom  I  write  had  a  wife 
and  one  child,  a  bright  boy  of  about  three  years. 
The  wife  and  child  were  on  a  visit  East  when  the 
father  was  taken  sick,  and  at  the  time  of  this  street 
service  had  not  returned.     The  sick  man  heard  the 
text,  if  not  the  sermon.     Becoming  dangerously  ill 
the  wife  and  child  were  sent  for,  and  on  their  arrival 
he  was  removed  to  their  own  home  in  the  village. 

Early  one  morning  a  messenger  came  hurriedly 
for  my  wife  and  myself,  saying  that  Mr.  Blandon 
was  beyond  all  hope  of  recovery,  and  was  very 
anxious  to  see  us.  We  made  our  way  to  the  house, 
and  found  him  lying  in  a  bedroom  on  the  first  floor. 
The  window  was  open,  and  standing  around  and 
peering  in  were  several  of  his  associates,  anxious  to 


66  Reminiscences  of 

learn  of  his  condition.  This  man,  while  outwardly 
moral,  was  one  who  seldom,  if  ever,  attended  the 
house  of  God,  and  one  who  to  all  appearance  never 
had  a  serious  thought  about  the  salvation  of  his  soul. 
As  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  us  as  we  entered  the  room 
he  called  out  eagerly,  "Oh,  pray  for  me!  pray  for 
me!"  I  said  to  him,  "Certainly  we  will,  but  our 
prayers  cannot  save  you,  you  must  pray  for  your- 
self." "Oh,"  said  he,  "I  don't  know  how  to  pray." 
I  said,  "Then  repeat  a  prayer  after  me."  And 
repeating  the  simplest  form  of  prayer  I  could,  "God 
be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner,"  he  would  say  it  over 
after  me  with  all  the  emphasis  he  could  command. 
Weeping  and  sobbing  his  wife,  leading  the  child, 
came  into  the  room.  As  he  saw  her  he  cried  out, 
"O  wife,  teach  my  boy  to  read  the  Bible  and  to 
pray!"  His  brother  coming  in  he  said  to  him,  "O 
brother,  we  have  been  after  gold,  gold,  but  none  but 
the  pure  in  heart  can  see  God."  Every  little  while 
saloon-keepers  and  other  hard  men  would  reach  in 
through  the  open  window,  and  pulling  my  coat, 
inquire  what  I  thought  about  his  chances  for  sal- 
vation. 

We  talked  and  prayed  with  him  the  best  we 
could,  and  finally  came  the  confession:  "When  I 
was  thirteen  years  old,  my  mother  died  and  I 
kneeled   at  her  bedside  and  promised  to  give  my 


Early  Free  Methodism  d'j 

heart  to  God  and  meet  her  in  heaven."  We 
stayed  by  his  side  until  about  the  time  he  passed 
away.  We  had  hope  in  his  death,  for  we  believe 
God  had  mercy  on  him  and  saved  him.  According 
to  his  dying  request  I  preached  the  funeral  sermon 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  to  a  large  con- 
gregation. I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  realized  more 
of  the  presence  of  God  than  was  manifested  in  that 
house  on  that  occasion.  I  used  for  a  text  Deuter- 
onomy 32:  II,  12. 

Twenty  years  after,  in  preaching  in  a  revival 
meeting  in  San  Jose,  California,  by  way  of  illustra- 
tion I  related  the  above  incident,  giving  the  name 
of  the  place  where  it  occurred,  but  not  the  name  of 
the  person.  At  the  close  of  the  service  an  old  sister 
by  the  name  of  Wallace  said  to  me,  "Marengo, 
Illinois?  Why,  I  had  two  nephews  by  the  name  of 
Blandon  there."  I  said  to  her,  ''The  person  to 
whom  I  referred  in  the  incident  was  Granger  Blan- 
don." "Oh,"  she  said,  "he  was  my  sister's  son. 
She  was  a  devoted  saint  of  God  and  wrestled  with 
God  in  prayer  for  her  sons,  and  said  that  she  had 
the  witness  that  he  would  save  them."  In  the  case 
of  this  one  at  least  after  a  lapse  of  perhaps  twenty 
years  the  mother's  prayer  was  answered. 

We  spent  a  pleasant  year  at  Saint  Charles,  most 
of  our  work,  however,  by  way  of  special  effort  being 


68  Reminiscences  of 

put  in  at  Geneva.  We  held  revival  services  in  the 
old  courthouse.  At  first  the  work  moved  rather 
slowly. 

One  day  the  recording  steward  told  me  that  the 
official  board  at  one  of  its  meetings  had  passed  a  res- 
olution declaring  that  the  Lord  does  not  now  heal 
diseases  in  answer  to  prayer  as  in  former  times.  The 
steward  said  he  had  become  ashamed  of  the  action 
and  had  torn  the  leaf  on  which  it  was  recorded  from 
the  book.  But  the  action  stood,  and  feeling  that 
such  a  blow  at  faith  in  God  would  paralyze  all  our 
efforts,  I  called  the  board  together  and  told  them 
that  they  must  rescind  their  action  or  I  should  stop 
the  meeting.  They  readily  complied  with  my  re- 
quest and  rescinded  the  action,  and  the  work  at  once 
began  to  move  with  power. 

A  German  man  and  wife  named  Schones  were 
clearly  saved.  They  had  been  Catholics,  but  by 
degrees  their  eyes  had  been  opened  to  the  errors  of 
that  system.  At  one  time  Brother  Schones  went  to 
the  priest  to  get  him  to  baptize  his  child,  who  was 
lying  at  the  point  of  death.  He  found  the  priest 
feasting  and  drinking  wine,  and  although  he  pro- 
posed to  get  a  carriage  and  pay  him  well  besides  the 
priest  refused  to  go.  So  Brother  Schones  went 
home,  and  in  his  desperation  baptized  the  child  him- 
self, and  said,  "Lord,  that  must  do."     Gradually  he 


Early  Free  Methodism  69 

lost  faith  in  Catholicism,  and  when  our  meeting 
began  came  and  stood  in  the  stairway,  and  listening 
to  the  preaching  was  brought  to  feel  his  need  of  sal- 
vation. He  came  to  the  penitent  form  and  was 
clearly  saved.  He  then  stayed  with  the  children 
and  sent  his  wife  to  the  meeting.  She  could  not 
understand  English,  but  he  told  her  when  I  got 
through  preaching  and  they  were  singing  to  go  up 
and  kneel  at  the  bench  in  front.  So  up  she  came, 
and  kneeling  straight  up  on  her  knees  got  out  her 
prayer-book  and  read  over  her  prayers  as  fast  as  ever 
she  could.  As  she  could  not  understand  English  we 
could  not  give  her  much  instruction,  but  finally  in 
prayer  I  cried  out,  "O  Lord!  let  the  light  on  this 
poor  woman's  heart."  And  she  afterwards  told  us, 
for  she  learned  to  speak  English  a  little,  that  when  I 
cried  out  the  light  came  to  her  heart. 

After  their  conversion  we  stopped  at  their  house 
during  the  remainder  of  the  meeting.  Crucifixes  and 
beads  were  given  to  the  children  for  playthings,  and 
these  happy  converts  went  directly  by  faith  to  Jesus 
for  grace  and  help.  While  stopping  with  them  our 
babe  was  quite  sick,  and  we  were  a  good  deal  con- 
cerned, fearing  she  might  die,  and  the  good  woman 
would  console  us  in  words  about  like  these,  "  Oh' 
don't  cry;  ven  our  first  baby  was  shick  I  criedt  and 
Mr.  Schones  he  criedt,  but  the  next  von  I  criedt  but 


70  Reminiscences  of 

Mr.  Schones  he  not  cry,  and  de  next  one  I  don't  cry 
neider.  Oh !  you  haf  more  before  you  haf  less." 
These  words  were  true  and  the  prophecy  was  ful- 
filled. For  some  years  they  walked  in  the  light,  but, 
I  believe,  were  finally  drawn  off  to  rest  their  salva- 
tion on  the  observance  of  a  particular  day. 

A  saloon-keeper  in  the  town  became  interested  in 
the  meetings  and  was  a  constant  attendant.  One 
evening  as  we  finished  the  hymn  of  invitation  and  the 
congregation  had  become  seated,  he  stood  like  a 
statue,  seemingly  spellbound.  I  cried  out  to  him, 
"Come  forward  and  seek  salvation,  or  else  go  home 
and  write  your  name  Satan  on  your  signboard  and 
come  out  in  your  true  colors."  He  lived  over  his 
saloon.  That  night  a  fire  caught  in  the  saloon  below, 
and  suddenly  awakened  from  sleep  he  thought  the 
judgment  had  come.  Springing  from  bed,  he  jumped 
out  of  the  second  story  window,  taking  the  sash  with 
him.  He  began  at  once  to  seek  salvation,  but  I  be- 
lieve did  not  make  a  very  stable  convert.  Sister 
Himebaugh,  afterwards  Sister  Updyke,  who  some 
time  before  had  been  miraculously  healed  by  faith, 
was  a  great  help  in  the  meetings.  Mother  Lawrence 
was  living  at  Geneva  at  the  time,  and  by  her  prayers 
and  faith  helped  immensely.  Her  husband  greatly 
opposed  and  persecuted  her  and  finally  deserted  her, 
and  she  got  a  divorce.     She  kept  on  her  way,  shout- 


Early  Free  Methodism  7 1 

ing  amen  as  loud  as  ever,  and  after  a  few  years  her 
poor,  old,  former  husband,  broken  down  in  health, 
came  back  and  fell  at  her  feet  in  humble  confession. 
They  were  re-married ;  she  helped  him  into  the 
kingdom,  and  in  a  short  time  saw  him  safely  off  to 
heaven. 

Quite  a  family  by  the  name  of  Updyke  were 
saved,  and  many  additions  were  made  to  the  class. 
One  woman  was  clearly  saved  whose  husband  was 
greatly  enraged.  He  burned  her  Bible,  and  when 
she  undertook  to  pray  would  dash  buckets  of  water 
on  her.  Finally  he  turned  her  outdoors.  Mother 
Lawrence  took  her  in,  and  we  arranged  to  send  her 
to  Sister  Coon's  at  Marengo.  With  his  house  deso- 
late and  himself  thoroughl)^  subdued,  the  man  came 
to  me  and  with  tears  besought  me  to  tell  him  where 
he  could  find  his  wife.  He  very  gladly  paid  my  fare 
to  accompany  him  to  Marengo,  and  promising  all 
that  could  be  asked,  his  wife  went  home  with  him. 

In  the  spring  we  set  about  building  a  church. 
Building  stone  was  plentiful  and  cheap.  I  went  out 
soliciting  funds  and  met  with  quite  a  ready  response. 
Brother  Hackney,  of  Aurora,  gave  a  hundred  dollars, 
and  others  responded  liberally  and  we  felt  war- 
ranted in  beginning  to  build.  I  left  the  work  before 
the  house  was  completed.  After  I  left  they  enlarged 
their  plans  and  got  so  heavily  in  debt  I  believe  the 


^2  Reminiscences  of 

property  had  to  be  sold.  In  all  the  years  of  my 
ministry  in  our  church  this  was  the  only  circuit  I 
ever  was  appointed  to  which  had  not  been  raised  up 
under  my  own  labors. 

Camp-meetings  were  held  year  after  year  in 
Brother  Laughlin's  grove.  These  meetings  came  to 
be  a  kind  of  center  from  which  radiated  rays  of 
light,  and  from  which  influences  of  spiritual  power 
went  out  in  all  directions.  The  history  of  these 
meetings  has  been  graphically  and  faithfully  written 
by  an  abler  pen  than  mine.  I  never  can  forget  the 
fearful  onslaught  made  by  the  roughs  one  night 
during  the  second  meeting.  The  services  of  the 
evening  were  over  and  all  but  a  few  on  guard  had 
retired  for  rest,  when  suddenly  the  alarm  was  given 
that  the  rowdies  were  tearing  down  tents.  The 
brethren  rushed  out  and  the  rowdies  fell  back,  but, 
arming  themselves  with  clubs  and  stakes,  soon  rallied 
and  came  on  for  a  general  attack.  Brother  Terrill 
took  the  lead  of  the  camp-meeting  forces  and, 
inspired  with  love  for  the  cause  of  God  and  desire 
for  the  safety  of  the  campers,  without  fear,  he 
sallied  out  to  meet  the  attacking  forces,  who,  filled 
with  whisky,  were  yelling  like  demons  from  the 
pit.  Good  Brother  Newell  Day,  being  acquainted 
with  some  of  the  men,  in  the  quietness  and  sweet- 
ness of  his  spirit,  went  out  to  reason  with  them  and 


Early  Free  Methodism  73 

try  and  dissuade  them  from  their  murderous  purpose. 
But  in  their  insane  frenzy  they  were  beyond  reason- 
ing, and  one  of  them,  seizing  a  huge  pointed  stick, 
hurled  it  with  all  his  might.  The  point  of  the 
missile  struck  Brother  Day,  gouging  out  one  of  his 
eyes.  Groaning  and  crying  out  with  pain  Brother 
Day  made  his  way  back  to  the  encampment.  He 
was  taken  into  a  tent  to  be  ministered  to,  and  the 
brethren,  rushing  on  the  roughs,  in  almost  a  moment's 
time  scattered  them  in  all  directions.  They  secured 
two  or  three  of  the  ringleaders.  They  were  brought 
before  the  magistrate  and  bound  over  for  trial.  But 
at  that  time  the  country  was  in  a  blaze  of  excitement 
on  account  of  the  Civil  War,  and  to  enlist  was  to 
cover  a  multitude  of  sins.  These  men  enlisted  and 
went  off  to  the  war.  Some  of  them,  at  least,  were 
known  to  have  come  to  a  miserable  end. 

Brother  Day  eventually  went  West  and  settled 
at  Orleans,  Nebraska,  where  he  continued  to  live 
and  walk  with  God  until  March  26,  1901,  when  he 
passed  triumphantly  to  the  better  land. 

At  the  session  of  the  conference  held  at  Clinton- 
ville  in  the  fall  of  1861  I  was  elected  and  ordained 
deacon.  This  was  the  session  from  which  I  was 
sent  to  St.  Charles.  At  the  session  of  the  confer- 
ence held  at  Aurora  in  the  fall  of  1862  Brother 
Roberts  came  to  me  and   said   he  had  received  a 


J74  Reminiscences  of 

letter  from  a  man  in  Michigan  who  wanted  a  Free 
Methodist  preacher  sent  to  that  State,  and  asked  me 
if  I  would  go.  I  replied,  "If  you  say  so  and  I  can 
get  there  I  will  go  to  the  North  Pole."  Before  the 
close  of  the  session  Brother  Roberts  said  to  me, 
"We  haven't  men  enough  to  supply  the  circuits,  but 
the  brethren  at  Marengo  have  consented,  if  you  are 
sent  there,  to  let  you  take  three  months  at  any  time 
of  the  year  you  may  choose  to  visit  Michigan." 

Brother  Roberts  gave  me  the  letter  he  had 
received  from  Rev.  H.  L.  Jones  of  Ida,  Michigan, 
and  requested  me  to  correspond  with  him  and  to 
arrange  if  possible  to  go  during  the  winter  months, 
as  that  would  be  the  best  time  for  holding  revival 
meetings. 

We  met  with  a  very  cordial  reception  from  our 
old  friends  at  Marengo.  We  finished  off  the  old 
house  at  the  rear  of  the  church  lot  and  had  a  very 
comfortable  parsonage.  At  the  beginning  of  this 
conference  year  our  dear  friend  and  spiritual  father. 
Rev.  J.  W.  Redfield,  was  called  to  his  eternal  reward. 
He  had  for  more  than  two  years  suffered,  at  times 
intensely,  from  a  stroke  of  paralysis  which  had  ren- 
dered one  side  almost  completely  helpless.  He  was 
not  able  to  preach,  but  would  attend  service  and 
give  in  his  testimony.  Osgood  Joslyn,  who  was 
saved  in  the  first  meeting  the  doctor  held  in  Marengo, 


Early  Free  Methodism  75 

took  him  to  his  home  and  cared  for  him  while  he 
lived.  A  few  days  before  the  doctor  passed  away 
he  called  Brother  Joslyn  to  his  bedside  and  said, 
"  Osgood,  I  cannot  live  long,  and  I  want  you  to  take 
my  last  testimony  and  tell  all  the  people  for  me  that 
this  is  the  track  that  leads  to  heaven." 

In  preaching  the  doctor  had  a  peculiar  way  of 
bringing  up  and  setting  down  his  right  foot,  and  at 
the  same  time  with  a  good  deal  of  emphasis  shout- 
ing, Hallelujah!  On  the  evening  of  his  death,  just 
as  the  breath  left  his  body,  in  his  characteristic  way 
he  brought  up  his  foot  and,  as  some  who  were 
looking  on  said,  set  it  down  in  heaven.  And  so 
this  good  man  passed  on  to  his  heavenly  home.  His 
body  lies  in  the  cemetery  at  Marengo,  and  on  the 
stone  at  the  head  of  the  grave  after  the  name  and 
dates  there  is  inscribed  the  single  sentence:  "  He  was 
true  to  his  motto — Fidelity  to  God."  Fortunately 
Brother  Roberts  had  not  returned  East,  and  he  was 
at  once  sent  for  to  preach  the  funeral  sermon.  The 
services  were  held  in  our  church  at  Marengo.  The 
day  was  very  stormy,  the  rain  falling  in  torrents,  but 
the  house  was  crowded.  It  was  a  solemn  scene  as 
the  young  preachers  gathered  around  the  casket  to 
take  the  last  look  at  that  calm  and  heavenly  face. 
Standing  there  with  hands  uplifted  we  sang  the  min- 
ister's prayer,  hymn  No.  298  of  our  present  hymn 


76  Reminiscences  of 

book,  and  pledged  ourselves  anew  to  God.  By  a 
merciful  providence  the  Lord  had,  as  it  were,  taken 
the  doctor  from  us  by  degrees,  for  during  his  two 
years'  illness  we  had  learned  to  look  away  from  the 
arm  of  flesh  and  to  trust  more  fully  in  God,  so  his 
death  did  not  prove  a  shock  or  any  great  hindrance 
to  the  work. 

By  this  time  our  Illinois  conference  began  to 
assume  respectable  proportions.  Cyrus  Underwood 
was  a  shoe  dealer  in  St.  Louis.  He  was  a  professed 
infidel,  but  hearing  of  the  doctor's  meetings  had  the 
curiosity  to  hear  the  man.  Whenever  he  went  to 
church  in  those  days  he  went  to  criticize.  He  seated 
himself  in  the  church  that  evening,  ready  when  the 
preacher  should  begin  his  sermon,  to  riddle  it  with 
the  shot  of  criticism.  But  the  young,  would-be 
infidel  was  disarmed  before  the  preacher  reached 
the  pulpit,  for  as  the  doctor  in  going  up  the  aisle 
passed  the  pew  in  which  Cyrus  was  sitting  he  was 
struck  under  conviction  and  at  the  first  opportunity 
began  to  earnestly  seek  the  Lord.  He  became  a 
strong  and  successful  preacher,  but  after  some  years 
of  service  became  fearful  as  to  the  matter  of  support 
and  went  into  secular  business. 

J.  W.  Dake  became  a  Boanerges  in  the  work,  but 
not  until,  in  the  providence  of  God,  he  had  been 
thrown  out,  under  the  Spirit,  on  his  own  resources. 


Early  Free  Methodism  ^j^j 

At  this  session  at  Aurora  the  stationing  committee 
were  greatly  perplexed  over  the  appointment  of  J.  W. 
Dake,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  wait  on 
him  and  advise  him  to  locate.  When  the  committee 
came  to  confer  with  Brother  Dake,  he  said,  "Very 
well,  brethren,  you  take  the  responsibility  of  placing 
me  in  a  local  relation  and  I  will  gladly  go  back  to 
my  farm,  but  I  don't  dare  request  that  relation."  It 
was  greater  responsibility  than  the  committee  wished 
to  assume,  and  as  an  old  man  had  come  up  from 
Bureau  county  to  ask  for  a  preacher.  Brother  Dake, 
without  a  member  or  any  assured  support,  was  put 
down  for  Bureau  county.  Thrust  out  to  sink  or 
swim,  he  concluded  by  the  grace  and  help  of  God 
not  to  sink,  and  came  up  the  next  year  to  report  a 
swimming  success.  The  only  embarrassment  the 
stationing  committee  ever  had  after  that  in  the  case 
of  J.  W.  Dake  was  in  trying  to  meet  all  the  demands 
for  his  services. 

Joseph  Travis  proved  to  be  a  successful  laborer, 
and  as  a  preacher  he  put  his  sermons  together  with 
about  the  same  exactness  with  which  he  had  for- 
merly constructed  railroad  locomotives.  N.  D.  Fan- 
ning was  a  highly  educated  young  man,  and  naturally 
and  easily  preached  sermons  which  would  be  a  credit 
to  a  bishop.  He  was  styled  "The  scholar  of  the 
Illinois  conference."     He  finally  went,  I  believe,  to 


78  Reminiscences  of 

the  Presbyterians,  and  somewhere  in  Minnesota,  I 
understand,  dropped  dead  in  the  pulpit  while  preach- 
ing one  of  his  remarkable  sermons.  Thomas  La  Due 
was  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church  at  Saint 
Charles.  In  the  early  days  of  our  church  in  that 
village  he  was  gloriously  saved,  and  preached  holiness 
so  effectually  that  many  of  his  members  got  the  ex- 
perience, and  finally  with  him  united  with  the  Free 
church.  For  several  years  he  preached,  both  West 
and  East,  with  success,  and  from  his  quiet  home  near 
Portland,  Oregon,  passed  to  take  his  place  amid  the 
ransomed  throng.  He  left  two  sons — men  of  studious 
habits  and  sterling  Christian  character.  The  younger 
one  labored  a  few  years  in  the  California  conference. 
His  praise  was  in  all  the  churches.  He  died  in  holy 
triumph.  To  this  day  by  those  who  knew  of  him  he 
is  remembered  as  the  model  preacher.  The  other 
still  lives,  an  efficient  member  of  the  faculty  of 
Greenville  college.  M.  V.  Clute  came  from  Brother 
La  Due's  church  in  Saint  Charles,  and,  receiving 
license  to  preach,  was  admitted  to  the  traveling  con- 
nection, and  lived  and  died  a  member  of  the  Illinois 
conference. 

But  time  would  fail  to  appropriately  speak  of 
Terrill  and  Mead  and  Cook  and  Harroun,  of  Bishop 
and  Shepardson  and  Ribble,  and  many  others  who 
labored  in  the  beginning  of  the  work  in  the  Illinois 


Early  Free  Methodism  79 

conference.  At  the  session  in  the  fall  of  1862  some 
fifteen  or  twenty  circuits,  with  a  total  membership  of 
six  or  seven  hundred  were  reported. 


So  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  IX. 

We  had  expected,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of  a 
few  weeks'  labor  in  Michigan,  to  spend  a  pleasant 
and  prosperous  year  in  Marengo,  but  by  the  provi- 
dence of  God  one  quarter  was  destined  to  be  the 
limit  of  our  pastoral  work  in  Illinois.  During  this 
quarter  besides  filling  my  regular  appointments  in 
Marengo  I  preached  at  several  outside  points.  One 
Sabbath  evening  I  was  to  be  away,  and  secured,  or 
supposed  I  had,  the  services  of  Brother  C.  E.  Har- 
roun  for  the  church  at  Marengo.  Judge  of  my  sur- 
prise when  on  reaching  home  I  found  that  Brother 
Harroun,  although  he  had  reached  the  place  in  time, 
instead  of  going  into  the  church  to  preach  had  gone 
into  the  parsonage  and  remained  during  the  service. 
I  labored  with  him  the  best  I  could,  calling  his  atten- 
tion to  that  part  of  the  Discipline  which  reads,  "Be 
sure  and  never  disappoint  a  congregation,"  when 
with  all  seriousness  the  brother  replied,  "  Really, 
Brother  Hart,  I  didn't  know  which  would  prove  the 
greater  disappointment  to  the  congregation,  to  go  in 
and  try  to  preach  or  stay  away." 

The  only  special  service  we  attempted  to  hold 


Early  Free  Methodism  8i 

was  a  watch-night  meeting,  but  on  New  Year's  eve 
there  came  on  one  of  the  worst  storms  ever  experi- 
enced in  Northern  Illinois.  On  New  Year's  morning 
I  dug  out  through  the  drifts  and  found  by  tracks  in 
the  snow  that  just  one  person  had  tried  to  reach  the 
church  door.  I  began  correspondence  with  Rev.  Mr. 
Jones,  of  Michigan,  and  arranged  to  be  with  him  by 
January  24.  When  we  started  for  Michigan  our  only 
child  was  about  sixteen  months  old.  We  left  her 
with  my  parents,  who  had  both  united  with  the  Free 
church.  My  mother  said  she  would  gladly  keep  the 
child  so  that  my  wife  might  accompany  me,  "for," 
said  she,  ''they  that  stay  by  the  stuff  share  in  the 
spoils  with  those  who  go  to  war." 

Having  given  Brother  Jones  the  date  of  our 
arrival,  I  expected  him  to  meet  us  at  Ida.  Reaching 
Chicago  I  called  at  the  ofifice  of  the  General  Passen- 
ger Agent  of  the  Michigan  Southern  railroad  and 
requested  clergy  rates  for  myself  and  wife  to  Ida 
station.  He  informed  me  that  it  would  be  necessary 
to  apply  through  the  agent  at  Ida.  I  explained  that 
I  did  not  live  at  Ida,  but  desired  rates  there.  He 
looked  up,  and  in  a  mild  but  very  firm  tone  said, 
"This  is  according  to  our  rules,  sir,  and  I  have  no 
discretion  in  the  matter."  I  failed  in  getting  rates, 
but  out  of  the  incident  I  got  an  illustration  which  at 
times  I  have  been  able  to  use  to  good  advantage.   It 


82  Reminiscences  of 

was  this :  The  conditions  of  salvation  are  in  such 
perfect  accord  with  principles  of  right  that  we  may 
as  well  meet  them  without  questioning,  for  as  far  as 
making  them  any  easier  is  concerned  the  Lord  him- 
self has  no  discretion. 

Being  of  rather  an  imaginary  turn  of  mind,  I  am 
quite  given  to  forecasting  and  picturing  out  to  myself 
coming  events.  So,  as  we  journeyed  along,  I  had 
our  reception  at  Ida  all  thrown  out  on  the  canvas  of 
imagination,  and  said  to  my  wife,  "When  we  reach 
Ida  we  shall  be  met  by  a  decrepit  old  man  with  white 
hair,  and  with  tobacco  juice  running  down  the  cor- 
ners of  his  beard.  He  will  have  an  old  gray  horse 
and  a  broken-down  buggy."  On  reaching  Ida  we 
found  it  to  be  a  station  and  little  else.  There  was  a 
brick  store  and  two  or  three  dwellings.  We  had 
come  from  a  prairie  country  and  landed  amid  a  for- 
est of  giant  elms  whose  great  branches  stretched  up 
toward  the  sky.  The  frozen  black  clay  hubs  stuck 
up  through  a  light  fall  of  snow,  and  to  us  the  pros- 
pect was  rather  dreary.  But  to  cap  all,  not  even  my 
old,  white-haired,  tobacco-stained  man  was  there  to 
meet  us.  We  made  our  way  to  the  store  and  inquired 
for  Rev.  Jones.  The  storekeeper  gave  us  directions, 
and  we  started  for  a  walk  of  a  mile  or  more  through 
the  snow  and  over  the  hubs  to  find  the  residence  of 
Brother  Jones.     I  was  carrying  the  grips  and  my 


Early  Free  Methodism  83 

wife  had  the  lunch-basket.  When  we  had  covered 
about  half  the  distance  we  set  down  the  luggage  for 
a  rest,  and  turning  to  my  wife  I  said,  "Mat,  this  looks 
rather  dubious,  doesn't  it?"  Seizing  the  bail  of  the 
basket  and  starting,  she  began  to  sing,  "While  there's 
a  track  I'll  never  look  back,  but  go  on  at  the  risk  of 
my  all." 

This  storekeeper  was  a  German  by  the  name  of 
Ranch.  At  the  time  he  was,  I  believe,  a  member  of 
the  Dutch  Reformed  church,  but  not  many  years 
after  he  got  grandly  saved  and  joined  the  Free 
Methodist  church.  To  the  day  of  his  death  he  was 
one  of  our  most  reliable  members.  His  wife  sur- 
vives him  and  for  years  has  maintained  a  steady 
experience,  continually  realizing  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord.  Some  of  their  children  have  been  a  great 
help  in  the  church.  One  daughter,  now  the  wife  of 
W.  E.  Bardell  of  the  Illinois  conference  and  manager 
of  the  Woodstock  Orphanage  and  Home,  has  been 
especially  efficient  as  a  worker. 

We  finally  came  to  a  large,  fine-looking  farm- 
house, and  upon  knocking  the  door  was  opened  by 
a  pleasant-faced,  elderly  man.  I  inquired  whether 
Rev.  H.  L.  Jones  lived  there.  He  replied,  "  No,  sir," 
and  pointing  to  a  house  across  the  fields  said,  "He 
lives  over  there,"  and  then  added,  "  He  is  not  at 
home,  but  I  am  his  father."     I  said,  "  My  name  is 


84  Reminiscences  of 

Hart.  I  am  a  Free  Methodist  preacher  from  Illinois. 
I  have  been  corresponding  with  your  son" — and 
before  I  could  say  more  the  old  gentleman  grasped 
my  hand  and  cried  out,  "God  bless  you,  Brother 
and  Sister  Hart.  Come  in!  Come  in!"  Father  Jones 
informed  us  that  his  son  had  gone  up  to  a  point  on 
the  Macon  river,  called  East  Milan,  to  arrange  for  a 
quarterly  meeting,  and  that  he  was  to  take  us  up 
there  the  next  morning. 

And  now  let  us  notice  the  providence  by  which 
the  way  was  opened  for  our  work  in  Michigan. 
Some  years  prior  to  our  arrival  in  the  State  Father 
Jones  and  others,  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  deploring  the  lack  of  spirituality, 
decided  to  organize  a  new  denomination,  which  they 
called  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Conformist  Church 
— the  word  "Conformist"  being  expressive  of  their 
determination  to  conform  to  the  doctrines  and  Dis- 
cipline of  primitive  Methodism.  For  a  few  years 
they  met  with  success  and  at  one  time  in  South- 
eastern Michigan  numbered  some  three  or  four 
hundred.  But  in  every  truly  evangelical  movement 
history  repeats  itself,  and  this  little  branch  was  soon 
called  to  encounter  very  bitter  worldly  and  Satanic 
opposition,  so  that  at  the  time  of  our  advent  into 
the  State  their  membership  was  sadly  diminished 
and  Henry  Jones  was  the  only  remaining  preacher. 


Early  Free  Methodism  85 

A  Free  Methodist  woman  from  Buffalo,  New 
York,  went  to  Michigan  to  visit  her  sister,  a  Mrs. 
Knoll,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Conformist  church. 
The  sister  from  Buffalo  had  a  copy  of  the  Earnest 
Christian,  which  at  that  time  Brother  Roberts  was 
publishing  in  that  city.  Sister  Knoll  handed  the 
periodical  to  Henry  Jones,  who  read  it  carefully  and 
then  wrote  Brother  Roberts  for  a  copy  of  the  Disci- 
pline. Having  studied  this  with  care  he  wrote  Brother 
Roberts,  requesting  him  to  send  them  a  Free  Meth- 
odist preacher.  So  in  this  instance,  as  in  many 
others,  the  Earnest  Christian  proved  to  be  a  John  the 
Baptist  and  forerunner  for  our  work.  And  from  this 
beginning  six  or  seven  annual  conferences,  with  two 
or  three  hundred  traveling  preachers  and  a  member- 
ship of  over  six  thousand,  have  been  added  to  our 
Zion.  Surely  this  periodical  has  some  claim  on  our 
people  for  support. 

The  next  morning  after  our  arrival  Father  Jones 
by  private  conveyance  took  us  some  twelve  miles  to 
East  Milan,  where  Henry  Jones  had  arranged  for  a 
quarterly  meeting.  The  services  were  held  in  a  fine, 
large  schoolhouse.  Near  by  was  the  residence  of 
Shubal  Lewis,  where  we  were  entertained.  Brother 
Lewis  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  but  his  wife  belonged  with  the  Conformists. 
Brother  Lewis  was  a  thrifty  farmer.     Sister  Lewis 


86  Reminiscences  of 

was  a  woman  whose  very  countenance  conveyed  the 
impression  of  intelligent  devotion  to  principle. 

Our  meeting  on  Saturday  afternoon  was  well 
attended  and  characterized  by  a  good  degree  of  the 
Spirit's  presence.  At  the  close  of  the  service  I 
called  together  the  members  of  the  Conformist 
church  who  were  present,  read  from  our  Discipline 
and  made  known  to  them  as  clearly  as  I  could  the 
origin  and  aim  of  the  Free  Methodist  church.  They 
seemed  greatly  pleased  with  us  and  our  representa- 
tion of  our  people;  so  much  so  that  I  thought  it 
necessary  to  inform  them  that  as  a  church  we  had 
our  trials,  and  that  it  was  not  always  smooth  sailing 
with  us.  But  they  were  so  favorably  impressed  that 
they  decided  to  invite  us  to  remain  and  hold  meet- 
ings at  different  points,  and,  if  in  my  judgment  I 
thought  best,  to  organize  societies  and  lay  the 
foundation  for  Free  Methodism  in  Michigan.  Fanati- 
cism and  jealousy  had  sadly  divided  and  destroyed 
the  work,  but  the  self-seeking  and  reckless  element 
had  withdrawn,  and  the  few  who  were  left  were  as 
candid  and  as  intelligently  religious  as  any  company 
of  people  with  whom  it  has  ever  been  my  privilege 
to  labor. 

On  Sabbath  the  place  was  thronged  and  the  Lord 
came  in  power.  At  the  close  of  the  preaching,  pre- 
paratory to  administering  the  sacrament,  I  read  and 


Early  Free  Methodism  87 

explained  the  general  directions  and  invitation  of 
the  Discipline.  Sister  Lewis  up  to  this  time  had 
dressed  in  plain  and  modest  attire,  but  had  finally 
yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  her  family,  and  on  this 
Sunday  morning  came  out  with  a  new  bonnet 
trimmed  with  artificial  flowers.  While  I  was  reading 
and  explaining  the  Discipline  I  noticed  the  large 
tear-drops  coursing  down  the  good  woman's  cheeks, 
and  as  the  invitation  to  the  communion  was  given 
she  deliberately  laid  off  her  bonnet,  and,  drawing 
her  veil  over  her  head,  came  forward  and  partook  of 
the  emblems  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  crucified 
Savior.  This  act  on  the  part  of  this  intelligent  and 
highly  respected  Christian  woman  made  a  deep  and 
lasting  impression  on  the  minds  of  the  people  in  that 
community.  Some  months  after  I  received  this 
noble  woman  into  the  church,  where  she  remained  a 
staunch  member  to  the  day  of  her  death.  In  uniting 
with  the  church  she  acted  with  the  same  calm,  delib- 
erate determination  that  characterized  her  course  in 
the  communion  service  of  our  first  Sabbath  in  Mich- 
igan. Years  after,  when  some  little  friction  arose  in 
the  society,  some  one  suggested  that  she  better  leave 
the  class.  "Oh,  no!"  she  replied,  "I  know  too  well 
what  it  cost  me  to  join.  It  was  the  Free  Methodist 
church  or  hell  with  me." 

We  closed  our  meeting  at  East  Milan  with  our 


88  Reminiscences  of 

Sabbath  evening  service,  and  returning  with  Father 
Jones,  held  meetings  for  a  few  evenings  in  the 
schoolhouse  in  his  neighborhood.  Here  we  met 
quite  a  remarkable  character,  known  throughout  all 
that  region  by  the  cognomen  of  "Happy  Jimmy." 
All  the  former  part  of  his  life  had  been  spent  on  the 
ocean  as  a  sailor  before  the  mast.  Several  years  be- 
fore the  time  of  which  I  write  he  came  into  Monroe 
county,  and  by  working  as  a  farm  hand  just  managed 
to  live.  He  had  professed  religion  for  several  years, 
but  every  time  he  went  to  Monroe,  the  county  seat, 
he  was  sure  to  get  drunk.  He  would  be  very  peni- 
tent, and  the  people  in  their  pity  for  him  would  for- 
give him.  This  was  repeated  over  and  over  until 
finally  Jimmy,  determined  on  victory  or  death,  went 
out  into  an  orchard  and  for  a  day  and  a  night,  as  I 
have  frequently  heard  him  say  (but  people  who  were 
acquainted  with  the  case  said  that  it  was  two  days 
and  two  nights),  wrestled  under  the  apple  tree;  and 
that  proved  to  be  the  Waterloo  for  the  drink  habit 
with  Jimmy.  He  never  got  drunk  again.  Ever  after 
he  was  enabled  to  give  a  clear  testimony  to  the 
power  of  Jesus'  blood  to  cleanse  from  all  sin. 

When  I  became  acquainted  with  Jimmy  he  was  an 
old  man,  living  in  the  family  of  a  good  widow,  who 
kindly  cared  for  him  till  thedayof  his  death.  Although 
Jimmy  could  not  read,  he  was  perfectly  familiar  with 


Early  Free  Methodism  89 

the  Bible,  as  he  also  was  with  the  biographies  of  all 
the  early  Methodist  saints,  frequently  quoting  from 
Wesley,  Fletcher,  Bramwell  and  others.  He  was 
quite  diminutive  in  stature,  and,  as  he  depended  on 
the  charity  of  the  people  for  his  wardrobe,  he  some- 
times made  quite  a  ludicrous  appearance — his  coat 
large  enough  perhaps  to  wrap  twice  around  him,  and 
a  leather  strap  around  his  loins,  with  a  high  silk  hat 
which  someone  had  discarded  and  which  was  two  or 
three  sizes  too  large  for  him,  with  an  old  rag  stuffed 
up  in  front  to  keep  the  hat  in  place  on  his  head,  he 
certainly  made  a  very  grotesque  appearance.  But 
the  few  who  are  living  who  in  those  days  knew 
"Happy  Jimmy,"  and  whose  eyes  may  fall  on  these 
lines,  will  recall  with  gladness  the  trite  and  pithy 
testimonies  of  that  remarkable  man  of  God.  At  one 
time,  in  speaking  of  walking  several  miles  one  bitter 
cold  day  in  winter  to  attend  a  meeting,  he  said,  "  I 
thought  for  a  while  I  should  perish,  but  I  got  down 
on  my  knees  in  the  snow  and  prayed  and  straightly 
the  cold  obated."  On  one  occasion  he  was  relating 
to  a  preacher  some  wonderful  manifestation  he  had 
witnessed  under  the  power  of  God,  when  the  preacher 
exclaimed,  "I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it."  "Well, 
then,"  said  Jimmy,  "that  makes  you  out  an  unbe- 
liever." In  some  meetings  Jimmy's  shouts  of  praise 
were  too  much  for  refined  ears,  and  so  when  he  got 


go  Reminiscences  of 

full  to  overflowing  he  would  break  for  the  door  and 
do  his  shouting  outside. 

At  first  when  Jimmy  came  to  our  meeting  as  the 
tide  reached  a  certain  point  he  would  give  a  whoop 
and  rush  out.  Finally  Sister  Hart  asked  him  why 
he  went  out.  "Oh,"  he  replied,  "I  don't  want  to  dis- 
turb the  meeting."  Sister  Hart  assured  him  it  was 
no  disturbance  to  praise  God  in  our  meeting,  and 
that  Brother  Hart  would  rather  have  him  stay  and 
praise  the  Lord  in  the  house.  After  that  in  our  ser- 
vices we  had  the  benefit  of  the  overflow  of  this 
chosen  vessel  of  the  Lord.  In  testifying  he  would 
usually  start  up  suddenly  and  speak  a  few  words  and 
3it  down.  At  one  time  I  remember  his  testimony 
was  about  as  follows:  "I  am  all  glorious  within.  My 
soul  is  like  the  king's  daughter — it  is  all  hung  with 
jewels."  One  morning  they  went  up  to  his  room  to 
call  him  for  breakfast,  and,  getting  no  response,  en- 
tered his  room  and  found  him  lying  as  though  he 
were  quietly  sleeping;  but  it  proved  to  be  the  sleep 
of  death.  Some  time  during  the  night  he  had  passed 
away,  evidently  without  a  struggle.  "He  lived  happy, 
and  died  happy,  and  was  saved.  Be  not  surprised. 
He  loved  and  served  his  God." 


Early  Free  Methodism  91 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  only  church  building  owned  by  the  Conformists 
was  at  a  place  called  Otter  Creek.  This  was  on  the 
old  plank  road  running  from  Monroe  to  Toledo.  The 
house  had  not  been  used  for  some  time,  and  there 
was  some  question  as  to  the  validity  of  the  title. 
The  brethren  thought  we  had  better  go  to  Otter 
Creek  and  hold  some  meetings,  and  if  possible  resur- 
rect the  work  there  and  secure  the  church  property. 
There  was  one  member,  a  Brother  A.,  who  owned 
and  operated  a  saw-mill,  still  living  there.  Father 
Jones  furnished  us  with  a  horse  and  buggy,  and 
arranged  for  a  boy  to  go  down  and  take  the  convey- 
ance back.  We  were  instructed  to  go  to  the  house 
of  this  Brother  A.  for  entertainment.  Reaching  the 
place  about  noon  we  found  the  house  of  the  brother. 
I  knocked  at  the  door  and  told  the  woman  who  an- 
swered the  summons  who  we  were,  and  that  we  had 
come  to  hold  some  meetings  in  the  church,  and  that 
Father  Jones  had  directed  us  to  their  house.  Speak- 
ing up  quite  tartly  she  said,  "If  you  want  to  see  Mr. 
A.  you  will  find  him  at  the  mill,"  and  shut  the  door 
in  my  face. 


g2  Reminiscences  of 

Going  out  to  the  buggy  I  said  to  my  wife,  "Mat, 
we  have  money  enough  to  pay  our  way  at  a  tavern 
for  a  day  or  two,  and  we  will  stop  awhile,  anyway." 
Driving  around  to  the  tavern — a  drinking  place  on 
the  old  plank,  it  could  hardly  be  called  a  hotel — I 
told  the  man  to  feed  the  horse  and  that  a  boy  would 
soon  call  for  it,  and  that  we  wanted  accommodations 
for  a  day  or  so.  After  dinner  we  hunted  up  the  key 
to  the  church,  went  to  the  schoolhouse  and  gave 
notice  of  the  meeting  for  the  evening.  We  then 
started  out  to  call  from  house  to  house,  to  talk  and 
pray  with  the  people.  To  our  surprise  we  found  that 
but  comparatively  few  of  them  could  understand 
English,  being  mostly  Lutherans  or  German  Catho- 
lics. 

A  small  congregation  gathered  in  the  evening, 
and  we  preached  and  exhorted  them  the  best  we 
could.  In  the  morning,  breakfast  over,  I  told  the 
landlord  that  we  usually  had  family  prayers  where 
we  stopped,  and  asked  him  if  he  had  any  objection 
to  our  having  worship  in  the  sitting-room.  "Oh,  no," 
he  replied.  I  requested  him  to  call  in  his  family, 
and  he  called  his  wife,  all  the  family  he  had.  We 
read  and  sang  and  prayed  with  them.  I  talked  with 
him  about  selling  liquor.  He  said  he  knew  it  was 
wrong,  but  added,  "I  have  to  live."  The  old  lady 
was   visibly  affected,   and   on   questioning   n«fr  we 


Early  Free  Methodism  93 

found  she  was  an  old  once-in-grace-always-in-grace 
Baptist  backslider.  The  poor  old  woman  with  pipe 
in  mouth  would  follow  Sister  Hart  around  and  sob 
and  cry  like  a  child.  In  a  day  or  so  someone  invited 
us  to  stop  with  him,  and  I  told  our  landlord  I  would 
pay  our  bill.  He  quickly  replied,  "Not  a  cent,  sir; 
not  a  cent,  and  if  you  ever  come  this  way  again  make 
our  house  your  home."  By  Sabbath  Brother  A.  ven- 
tured to  invite  us  to  dinner.  We  found  Mrs.  A.  very 
much  modified  in  her  attitude  towards  us,  and  had  a 
very  pleasant  time  with  them.  As  Otter  Creek  did 
not  prove  to  be  a  very  promising  field,  we  returned 
to  the  Ida  neighborhood. 

One  day  as  I  was  riding  with  Henry  Jones  on  the 
old  plank  between  Monroe  and  Adrian  we  passed  a 
large  farmhouse  bearing  the  appearance  of  having  at 
one  time  been  a  country  hotel.  As  we  drove  by  the 
place  Brother  Jones  remarked,  "If  the  man  living 
here  should  get  saved  it  would  stir  this  whole  coun- 
try." On  inquiry  I  learned  that  his  name  was  John 
Plues.  When  we  started  for  Otter  Creek  Henry 
Jones  said,  "I  will  go  and  begin  a  meeting  in  the 
Plues  schoolhouse,  and  if  there  proves  to  be  a  good 
interest  you  can  come  later."  On  our  return  to  Ida 
we  found  that  Henry  had  been  holding  a  meeting  in 
the  Plues  schoolhouse  about  one  week.  We  had 
been  away  from  home  now  some  four  weeks  or  more. 


94  Reminiscences  of 

We  had  left  a  fine  charge  in  a  beautiful  village,  with 
a  church  and  parsonage  on  the  same  lot,  with  sur- 
roundings about  all  one  could  wish.  And  above  all 
our  only  child,  just  at  that  age  when  children  with 
their  innocent  prattle  begin  to  be  the  most  interest- 
ing, was  at  home  and  we  were  getting  homesick  and 
anxious  to  return  to  our  charge.  So  as  we  went  to 
the  Plues  neighborhood  that  afternoon  I  had  decided 
that  unless  there  should  prove  to  be  unusual  indica- 
tions for  good  this  would  be  our  last  attempt  in 
trying  to  raise  up  a  work  in  Michigan,  and  that  we 
should  shortly  return  home.  With  this  determina- 
tion in  mind,  as  we  went  to  the  schoolhouse  that 
evening  I  said  to  my  wife,  "Mat,  to-night  it  is  either 
make  or  break." 

In  my  experience  in  holding  revival  meetings  I 
have  never  seen  a  deep  and  thorough  work  of  saving 
grace  among  the  people  until  I  have  been  brought  to 
keenly  realize  my  utter  inability  to  accomplish  any- 
thing. Not  until,  in  fact,  on  the  very  ragged  edge 
of  despair  I  have  been  brought  to  realize  and  to  cry, 
"When  my  all  of  strength  shall  fail  I  shall  with  the 
God-man  prevail."  When  brought  to  know  my  own 
utter  helplessness,  and  halting  on  the  shrunken 
thigh  of  my  own  endeavor  I  have  been  forced  to  cry, 
"Yield  to  me  now,  for  I  am  weak;  but  confident  in 
self-despair,"  then  it  is  that  God   comes  to  speak 


Early  Free  Methodism  95 

blessing  to  my  soul,  and  is  conquered  by  my  instant 
prayer. 

By  this  time  ''the  new  preacher  and  his  wife  from 
Illinois"  had  become  quite  a  theme  of  conversation, 
and  at  our  first  service  at  the  Plues  schoolhouse  we 
were  greeted  by  a  large  congregation.  We  were  both 
deeply  burdened  for  the  work,  and  felt  it  was  time 
for  the  power  of  God  to  come  on  the  people.  In  the 
opening  prayer  Sister  Hart  reached  the  throne,  and 
in  the  earnestness  of  intercession  literally  screamed 
in  agony  for  the  Lord  to  come.  For  a  text  I  took 
the  last  part  of  the  third  verse  of  the  third  chapter 
of  Matthew:  "Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make 
his  paths  straight,"  The  Spirit  enabled  me  to  empha- 
size the  fact  that  as  the  Lord  was  to  come  to  the 
Jews  of  old.  either  in  salvation  or  in  damnation,  so 
he  would  come  to  each  one  of  us,  and  that  the  com- 
mand to  prepare  his  way  referred  not  to  the  fact  but 
to  the  manner  of  his  coming.  The  people  listened 
with  breathless  attention,  and  many  were  deeply 
convicted.  When  I  gave  an  invitation  for  seekers, 
quite  a  number  responded,  among  them  the  wife  and 
twin  daughters,  two  beautiful  girls  of  about  seven- 
teen, and  one  or  two  younger  children  of  John  Plues. 
There  were  remarkable  manifestations  of  divine 
power  in  the  altar  service  and  several  professed  sal- 
vation. 


96  Reminiscences  of 

As  we  were  about  to  close  I  told  Brother  Jones  I 
thought  it  would  be  well  to  have  some  afternoon 
meetings  at  private  houses.  He  spoke  of  my  sug- 
gestion and  inquired  if  anyone  would  open  his  house 
for  an  afternoon  meeting.  As  no  one  responded, 
Brother  Jones  spoke  to  a  tall  man  sitting  on  a  desk 
about  midway  in  the  house,  and  said,  "Mr.  Plues,  can 
we  have  a  meeting  at  your  house  to-morrow  after- 
noon?" Rather  gruffly  Mr.  Plues  answered,  "I  don't 
care."  So  the  meeting  for  the  following  afternoon 
was  announced  to  be  at  the  house  of  John  Plues. 

A  day  or  so  before  this  the  youngest  son  of 
Father  Jones  had  died,  and  at  the  hour  of  the  after- 
noon meeting  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Plues  I  was  to 
attend  the  funeral  services.  As  Henry  Jones  would 
be  one  of  the  mourners,  I  said  to  my  wife,  "You 
must  lead  the  meeting  at  Mr.  Plues'  while  I  go  to 
attend  the  funeral."  Plues  had  for  some  time  been 
engaged  in  splitting  rails,  but  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
meeting  decided  he  would  not  go  out  to  split  rails 
but  stay  and  attend,  for,  as  he  afterwards  told  us,  he 
thought  if  he  went  to  the  woods  we  would  think  he 
was  afraid.  Sister  Hart  led  the  meeting,  exhorting 
the  people  to  seek  salvation.  Meanwhile  John  Plues 
was  sitting  and  staring  at  her  with  a  bold,  derisive 
look.  At  the  close  of  the  service  Mr.  Plues  went  out 
and  took  a  seat  by  the  fireplace  in  the  kitchen. 


Early  Free  Methodism  97 

Sister  Hart,  that  she  might  come  in  closer  con- 
tact with  the  sneering  scoffer,  took  occasion  to  go 
out  at  the  kitchen  door,  and  as  she  passed  Mr.  Plues 
she  inquired,  "Do  you  enjoy  religion?"  He  answered 
gruffly,  "I  don't  know  but  I  do."  Looking  at  him 
solemnly  Sister  Hart  then  inquired,  "Are  you  ready 
for  death  and  the  judgment?"  A  little  cowed,  and 
as  he  afterwards  told  us,  "I  thought  I  had  lied  to  the 
woman  once  and  I  wouldn't  lie  again,"  he  rather 
meekly  replied,  "I  don't  know  that  I  am."  "Well," 
said  Sister  Hart,  "I  warn  you  to  get  ready  for  death 
and  the  judgment,"  and  passed  on. 

John  Plues  was  a  man  of  strong  personality.  Tall, 
lank  and  bony,  standing  six  feet  four  in  his  stocking 
feet.  In  his  general  appearance  he  reminded  me 
strongly  of  the  pictures  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  He 
was  descended  from  an  aristocratic  English  family. 
He  inherited  quite  a  tract  of  land,  but,  not  being 
much  of  a  farmer,  accumulating  indebtedness  was 
gradually  eating  away  his  estate.  For  some  years 
he  had  run  a  hotel,  but  on  the  advent  of  the  railroad, 
some  miles  to  the  south,  travel  was  diverted  from  the 
old  plank  road  and  hotel  keeping  did  not  pay.  Mr. 
Plues  built  a  long  ballroom  on  to  his  house,  and 
several  times  each  year  would  advertise  a  dance,  and 
as  his  wife  was  a  fine  cook  these  gatherings  became 
quite  popular. 


gS  Reminiscences  of 

At  the  meeting  at  the  schoolhouse  the  next  even- 
ing Mrs.  Plues  and  her  daughters  were  forward  again 
and  began  to  get  out  into  the  light.  When  they 
reached  home  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  that  even- 
ing Mrs.  Plues  said  to  her  husband,  "John,  I  want  to 
ask  your  forgiveness  for  any  wrong  I  have  ever  done, 
and  I  would  like  to  read  the  Bible  and  pray  before 
we  retire."  In  an  angry  tone  he  replied,  "I'll  never 
forgive  you,  and  there  shall  be  no  reading  the  Bible 
and  praying  in  my  house;"  and  then  added,  "These 
preachers  are  not  coming  here  to  tell  my  family 
what  to  do.  How  do  you  know  who  this  couple 
from  Illinois  are?  Probably  just  off  some  theater 
boards!  Why,"  said  he,  "  I  saw  him  give  that  woman 
the  wink  and  she  knew  just  what  to  do."  The  wife 
breathed  her  heart  out  in  silent  prayer  to  God  and 
then  retired.  But  John  could  not  sleep.  He  thought 
how  mean  he  had  been  to  his  wife.  She  had  asked 
his  forgiveness  and  he  would  not  forgive  her.  She 
wanted  to  read  the  Bible  and  pray  with  her  family 
and  he  would  not  allow  that.  He  rolled  restlessly 
on  the  bed,  and  finally,  the  agony  becoming  too 
intense  to  be  borne,  thoroughly  subdued,  he  spoke 
up  and  said,  "  Samantha,  do  you  think  those  preachers 
would  come  and  pray  for  me?"  Quick  as  thought 
the  wife  replied,  "Why,  yes,  John,  and  I'll  pray  for 
you  too."    So  up  they  got  and  went  to  praying.    We 


Early  Free  Methodism  gg 

were  stopping  with  a  Methodist  family  by  the  name 
of  G.  The  farms  of  John  Plues  and  this  Timothy  G. 
joined,  and  for  a  long  time  ill  will  had  existed 
between  them. 

About  daylight  Mrs.  Plues  in  breathless  haste 
knocked  at  the  door  of  Timothy  G.  and  said,  "Oh, 
John  is  praying  and  he  wants  the  preachers  to  come 
and  pray  for  him,"  and  added,  "he  wants  you  to 
come,  too,  Timothy."  We  could  see  that  this  was 
a  choker  for  Timothy,  but  there  was  no  other  way; 
and  breakfast  and  family  prayers  over,  out  we  started. 
Henry  Jones  and  wife,  my  wife  and  myself,  Timo- 
thy and  wife  and  their  daughter  who  was  seeking, 
all  made  our  way  over  to  see  the  seeking  penitent. 
I  was  then  in  my  twenty-ninth  year  and  weighed 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty  pounds.  As  we  entered 
the  house  we  found  Mr.  Plues  bowed  under  the 
weight  of  grief  that  was  upon  him,  his  eyes  inflamed 
and  swollen  from  weeping,  and  he  was  dressed  in  a 
short,  ragged  coat  which,  in  his  haste,  he  had  drawn 
on.  He  certainly  was  a  pitiful  looking  object.  As 
I  led  the  way  into  the  room  Plues  caught  me  up  in 
his  arms,  raising  me  completely  from  the  floor,  and 
in  the  most  beseeching  tone  cried  out,  "O  Mr.  Hart, 
am  I  in  the  strait  way?  Am  I  in  the  strait  way?" 
"Well,"  I  replied,  "you  look  like  it,  but  let  us  pray." 
We  held  on  to  God  till  the  man  was  clearly  con- 


100  Reminiscences  of 

verted;  until  peace,  consciously  realized  by  nearly 
everyone  in  the  room,  came  to  his  soul.  Before 
Brother  Plues  arose  from  his  knees  he  began  to  cry, 
"  O  my  neighbors!  my  neighbors!  We  must  go  and 
see  my  neighbors."  Getting  up  from  prayer  he  went 
straight  to  Mr.  G.,  and  grasping  his  hand  cried  out, 
**  O  Timothy,  how  we  have  lived !  how  we  have  lived !" 
Timothy,  breaking  down,  confessed  up  and  the 
enmity  of  these  men  whose  farms  joined  was  gone. 

The  conversion  of  John  Plues  was  a  very  impor- 
tant link  in  the  chain  of  providences  by  which  our 
work  was  established  in  Michigan.  As  the  sequel 
will  show  it  was  the  key  to  the  train  of  providences 
by  which  thousands  were  brought  to  a  saving  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth.  For  years,  as  the  calls  for  work 
increased  and  doors  were  continually  opening,  I  felt 
and  repeatedly  gave  expression  to  the  thought  that 
Michigan  seemed  like  a  ripe  pear  which  must 
speedily  be  plucked  or  it  would  be  lost  to  our  work. 
And  I  presume  that  to-day  two  or  three  miles  outside 
the  beaten  track  of  our  old  circuits,  almost  anywhere, 
effectual  open  doors  may  still  be  found. 

A  dozen  or  fifteen  of  us  started  out  from  the 
Plues  residence  to  visit  and  pray  with  the  neighbors, 
John  Plues  and  myself  leading  the  procession.  The 
first  call  was  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Clark.  As  we 
entered  we  found  Mrs.  Clark  skimming  milk.     Mr, 


Early  Free  Methodism  loi 

Clark  made  no  profession  of  religion;  his  wife 
claimed  to  be  a  Presbyterian.  They  were  greatly 
surprised  as  they  saw  us  marching  up  the  walk 
towards  their  house  and  at  once  concluded  that 
something  unusual  had  transpired.  As  we  walked 
in  and  took  seats  Mrs.  Clark  was  greatly  agitated. 
She  tried  to  keep  at  her  work  but  was  so  excited  she 
could  accomplish  nothing.  Brother  Plues  began  at 
once  to  tell  what  God  had  done  for  him,  when  Mrs. 
Clark  cried  out  excitedly,  "  Mr.  Plues,  you  are 
excited.  How  do  we  know  who  these  people  are?" 
Then  she  went  on  with  a  great  story  about  a  temper- 
ance lecturer  who  had  been  through  there  and 
turned  out  badly.  Brother  Plues  was  taken  aback 
for  it  was  evident  that  he  supposed  everybody  would 
at  once  break  down  and  set  about  seeking  religion. 
I  looked  at  the  woman  and  quietly  remarked, 
"  Madam,  if  I  should  prove  to  be  the  devil  you  need 
salvation,  don't  you?" 

To  John  Plues  the  case  seemed  an  urgent  one 
and  he  exclaimed,  "  Mr.  Hart,  you  pray.  Mrs.  Hart, 
you  shout."  By  shouting  Plues  referred  to  the  first 
night  of  our  meeting  at  the  schoolhouse  when,  as  he 
afterwards  told  us,  every  scream  uttered  by  Sister 
Hart  in  prayer  went  like  a  dagger  to  his  soul.  Mr. 
Clark  was  deeply  convicted  but  seemed  to  stand  in 
fear  of  his  wife.    After  prayer  with  these  people  we 


102  Reminiscences  of 

passed  on  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Brown.  The  father 
and  boys  seeing  such  a  crowd  coming  up  the  road 
ran  to  the  barn.  Mrs.  Brown  broke  down  and  was 
saved  on  the  spot.  Mrs.  Brown  falling  into  line  we 
went  on  to  the  house  of  James  Galloway.  He  and 
his  wife  both  earnestly  sought  and  came  out  very 
clearly  saved.  We  went  on  from  house  to  house,  the 
people  with  few  exceptions  breaking  down  and 
crying  for  mercy.  That  night  the  schoolhouse  was 
altogether  too  small  to  accommodate  the  crowd 
which  gathered.  The  meeting  became  an  assured 
success.  Brother  Plues  said,  "The  people  do  not 
come  out  to  see  John  the  Baptist  but  John  the 
sinner."  He  had  a  great  desire  to  see  his  neighbor 
G.  clearly  saved.  He  would  say  to  him,  "Timothy, 
we  must  confess."  "Oh,"  said  Timothy,  "I  did 
confess  at  the  beginning  of  the  meeting."  "O 
yes,"  says  John,  "  but  new  people  are  coming  out 
and  we  must  confess  every  night." 

We  improvised  seats  and  converted  Plues'  ball- 
room into  a  house  of  prayer,  holding  afternoon 
meetings  in  it  every  day.  Brother  Plues  took  his 
Bible  and  visited  the  people  for  miles  in  every 
direction.  Some  seventy-five  or  a  hundred  were 
converted,  and  it  began  to  look  as  though  salvation 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Free  Methodist  church 
had  come  to  Michigan  to  stay. 


Early  Free  Methodism  103 

After  the  conversion  of  John  Plues  we  were  enter- 
tained at  his  house  until  our  departure  for  Illinois. 
Brother  Plues  began  to  read  and  study  the  Bible, for 
up  to  this  time  he  had  hardly  ever  looked  into  it, 
and  for  a  man  of  his  general  intelligence  was  remark- 
ably deficient  in  the  knowledge  of  its  contents. 
Quite  a  number  of  laborers,  some  of  whom  after- 
wards became  efficient  ministers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, were  brought  out  in  this  meeting.  One  bright 
boy  of  about  fourteen  was  saved,  and  in  passing  out  of 
meeting  one  day  I  laid  my  hand  on  his  head  and  said, 
"Bub,  I  think  the  Lord  has  a  work  for  you  to  do." 
Three  or  four  years  later  he  was  licensed  to  preach 
and  for  some  thirty  or  more  years  Ellsworth  Leon- 
ardson  has  been  doing  efficient  service  for  the  Master. 
He  labored  several  years  in  Michigan  and  Ohio, 
afterwards  in  Kansas,  and  is  now  a  district  elder  in  the 
Southern  California  conference.  An  older  brother, 
who  a  short  time  before  this  had  been  converted,  one 
day  in  company  with  his  brother-in-law  came  to  me 
and  with  considerable  embarrassment  made  known 
the  fact  that  they  felt  called  to  preach  the  gospel.  I 
gave  them  some  words  of  encouragement  and  they 
were  soon  out  calling  sinners  to  repentance.  The 
brother-in-law  finally  went  to  the  Congregationalists 
but  the  brother  is  still  with  us  and  at  this  writing  is 
pastor  of  our  church  at  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


104  Reminiscences  of 

This  series  of  meetings  continued  for  a  month  or 
more,  and  I  began  to  be  quite  anxious  to  get  home. 
One  day  as  my  wife  and  I  were  talking  about  our 
plans  for  the  future  I  told  her  I  thought  I  should 
advise  these  converts  to  join  some  church  and  be 
sure  and  live  religion,  and  we  would  go  back  to  Illi- 
nois and  would  meet  them  in  heaven.  Just  then 
Brother  Plues  came  into  the  room  and  said,  "Brother 
Hart,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  us  people?"  I 
told  him  that  my  wife  and  I  were  just  talking  the 
matter  over  and  repeated  what  I  had  said  to  Sister 
Hart.  Turning  to  me  with  a  kind  of  a  leer  in  his 
eyes  he  said,  "No,  s-i-r;  you  have  got  us  into  this 
boat  and  you  must  see  us  through."  I  quickly  re- 
sponded, "By  the  grace  of  God  we  will,  Brother 
Plues."  I  at  once  wrote  Brother  Roberts  and  he  re- 
plied, "Stay,  by  all  means." 

Arranging  for  Henry  Jones  to  keep  up  the  ap- 
pointments we  returned  to  Marengo,  Illinois,  and 
made  known  our  determination  to  go  back  and  re- 
main in  Michigan.  For  the  few  weeks  we  were  in 
Marengo  packing  up  for  Michigan  we  were  continu- 
ally beset  by  objectors  and  objections.  My  wife 
would  pull  up  carpets  and  pack  with  the  tears  run- 
ning, and  good  brethren  and  sisters  very  emphatic- 
ally declaring  that  our  going  was  all  of  the  wicked 
one,  and  that  we  were  running  from  the  burden,  etc. 


Early  Free  Methodism  105 

Here  we  were  with  a  nice  new  church  building,  a 
comfortable  parsonage,  parents,  together  with  uncles 
and  aunts  on  both  sides  and  with  many  others  who 
were  about  as  dear  to  us,  and  were  preparing  to  go 
where  we  would  have  no  certain  dwelling  place  and 
no  visible  means  of  support,  liable  at  any  time  to  a 
charge  of  vagrancy. 

We  told  the  people  that  we  had  authority  from 
Brother  Roberts  for  our  course,  but  this  availed 
nothing.  Some  said,  "If  a  conference  should  be 
raised  up  in  Michigan  we  would  not  believe  your 
going  was  of  the  Lord."  Letters  were  sent  on  to 
Brother  Roberts,  and  years  afterwards  he  laughingly 
said  to  us,  "I  don't  know  when  I  have  been  abused 
as  I  was  for  consenting  to  your  going  to  Michigan." 
Feeling,  however,  that  the  Lord  so  directed,  we  per- 
sisted in  our  course. 

Brother  C.  S.  Gitchell,  a  young  student  from  Gar- 
rett Biblical  Institute,  was  engaged  to  supply  the 
work,  and  amid  the  tears  and  protests  of  our  friends 
we  left  Marengo  for  our  new  field  in  Michigan. 
Brother  Gitchell  under  the  circumstances  did  re- 
markably well.  He  labored  two  years  or  so  in  Illi- 
nois, then  went  over  to  Michigan,  and  proved  to  be 
one  of  our  most  efficient  workers,  his  special  forte 
being  the  raising  up  of  new  circuits  and  building 
churches.     The  work  was  greatly  strengthened  and 


lo6  Reminiscences  of 

built  up  in  Michigan,  Ohio  and  Indiana  through  his 
labors.  Laid  aside  from  active  work,  he  is  now  a 
member  of  the  North  Michigan  conference. 


Early  Free  Methodism  107 


CHAPTER  XI. 

On  our  return  trip  to  Michigan,  at  the  request  of 
C.  S.  Gitchell,  we  stopped  at  Mishawaka,  Indiana, 
and  visited  his  father  who  was  a  local  preacher  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  I  preached  one 
evening  and  went  on  to  Osseo,  Hillsdale  county, 
Michigan.  I  had  been  requested  to  preach  at  the 
Black  schoolhouse,  as  it  was  called,  about  four  miles 
south  of  Osseo.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Van  Orman 
had  agreed  to  meet  us  at  Osseo.  He  had  instructed 
me  to  go  to  the  store  at  the  station  and  wait  for  him. 
Our  child  v/as  taken  quite  sick  on  the  train  and 
when  we  reached  Osseo  was  very  ill  and  threatened 
with  spasms.  We  went  to  the  store  as  directed  and 
after  waiting  several  hours  I  concluded  I  would  walk 
down  to  the  neighborhood  where  I  expected  to 
preach  and  send  back  a  conveyance  for  my  wife  and 
baby.  I  found  the  house  of  Mr.  Van  Orman,  and 
knocking  at  the  door  his  wife  made  her  appearance. 
I  told  her  who  I  was  and  the  object  of  my  call.  In 
very  positive  tones  she  informed  me  that  her  husband 
and  the  team  were  busy  in  the  field  and  could  not  be 
spared    to  go   to  the  station.     So   I    trudged  back 


io8  Reminiscences  of 

through  the  heat  and  dust  and  found  that  the  store- 
keeper had  kindly  invited  Sister  Hart  to  go  into  his 
house  adjoining  the  store. 

We  were  in  something  of  a  dilemma,  having  just 
about  money  enough  to  pay  our  fare  to  Ida,  but  not 
enough  for  hotel  bill  and  fare.  We  concluded  to  go  to 
the  hotel  for  the  night  and  trust  in  the  Lord  to  help 
us  through.  As  we  were  getting  ready  to  start  out 
the  merchant's  wife  invited  us  to  stop  to  supper. 
We  gladly  accepted  the  invitation,  and  learning  that 
they  were  members  of  the  Methodist  church  I 
inquired  the  name  of  their  preacher,  and  found  it 
was  Van  Antwerp.  Sister  Hart  quickly  inquired, 
"Is  his  wife's  name  Jennie?"  The  lady  answered, 
"It  is."  Before  their  marriage  we  had  known  Brother 
and  Sister  Van  Antwerp.  They  were  both  saved  in 
one  of  Doctor  Redfield's  meetings  in  Illinois.  Sister 
Hart  lost  no  time  in  making  her  way  to  the  par- 
sonage. She  was  cordially  received,  and  on  explain- 
ing our  circumstances  Brother  Van  Antwerp  said, 
"Go  and  tell  Brother  Hart  to  come  right  home." 
Reaching  the  house  of  the  kind-hearted  minister, 
his  wife  prepared  some  simple  remedy,  and  our  baby 
was  soon  much  better.  We  thanked  the  Lord  and 
took  courage.  The  following  day  we  made  our  way 
to  Ida  where  we  found  Brother  Plues  waiting  to  wel- 
come us  and  take  us  to  his  house.     I  had  an  appoint- 


Early  Free  Methodism  109 

ment  out  for  a  quarterly  meeting  for  the  following 
Sabbath.  "And  the  same  time  there  arose  no  small 
stir  about  that  way,"  and  a  large  crowd  was  expected 
to  be  in  attendance. 

Previous  to  our  return  to  Illinois,  perhaps  about 
the  fourteenth  of  February,  Sister  Hart  received  a 
valentine  in   the  shape  of  an  article  clipped  from 
some  denominational  paper  concerning  the  special 
duties  of  preachers'  wives  and  asserting  that  they 
had  none,  but  they,  like  other  women,  were  called 
to  remain  at  home  and  care  for  their  families,  and 
closed   up  with    the   inquiry,   "While   you   are   out 
preaching  to  the  heathen  abroad  who  is  caring  for 
your  little  heathen  at  home?"     As  Sister  Hart  read 
the  paper  she  exclaimed,  "  I  pray  the  Lord  to  bless 
the  person  who  sent  this  with  conviction,"  and  as  the 
sequel   shows   the   prayer   was   answered.      In    the 
neighborhood  adjoining  that  of  the  Lewis  school- 
house   was   an   old    Baptist   church   building.     The 
society  kept  together,  but  had  no  regular  preaching. 
Lemuel  T.  Frink  was  one  of  the  deacons  and  a  lead- 
ing man  in  this  church.     Mr.  Frink  worked  his  farm 
summers,  and,  being  a  well  educated   man,  taught 
school  during  the  winter.     Mrs.  Frink  was  not  only 
intelligent  but  a  woman  of  remarkable  resolution  as 
well,  and  if  a  failure  to  heartily  endorse  the  doctrine 
of  predestination  constitutes   a  reprobate   she  cer- 


no  Reminiscences  of 

tainly  was  one.  This  lady  had  attended  some  of  our 
meetings  and  in  company  with  Sister  Lewis  came  to 
the  quarterly  meeting  mentioned  above.  They  were 
entertained  at  the  home  of  Brother  Plues  where  we 
stopped.  We  had  frequently  spoken  to  Sister  Lewis 
about  our  baby  and  now  I  took  the  child  into  the 
sitting-room  to  show  her  to  Sister  Lewis.  As  I  did 
so  I  laughingly  said,  "All  I  care  about  that  valentine 
we  received  is  that  they  called  my  baby  a  heathen." 
Mrs.  .Frink  was  a  stranger  to  us  and  we  had  no 
thought  that  she  knew  anything  about  what  I 
referred  to,  but  she  had  sent  the  clipping  from  the 
paper.  She  said  nothing  at  that  time,  but  a  few 
months  later  at  a  grove-meeting  held  in  Father 
Jones'  neighborhood,  just  as  we  were  about  to  leave 
for  Illinois  to  attend  the  conference,  she  began  to 
earnestly  seek  the  Lord.  She  struggled  and  prayed 
for  awhile,  but  did  not  get  through.  Finally  taking 
Sister  Hart  and  myself  one  side,  amid  sobs  and  tears 
she  said,  "Oh!  would  you  believe  that  I  could  have 
been  so  mean  as  to  send  you  that  valentine?  Oh! 
can  you  forgive  me?"  "  O  yes,"  said  Sister  Hart. 
"I  prayed  the  Lord  to  send  conviction  to  the  one 
who  sent  it  and  he  has  answered  my  prayer.  Praise 
his  name."  "Oh!"  said  Mrs.  Frink,  "when  Brother 
Hart  at  the  quarterly  meeting  brought  in  his  baby 
and  spoke  as  he  did  to  Sister  Lewis  I  thought.  Oh, 


Early  Free  Methodism  in 

if  I  could  only  fall  through  the  floor."  All  was  for- 
given and  the  good  woman  got  blessed  in  her  soul. 
At  the  quarterly  meeting  I  arranged  to  hold  a 
grove-meeting  in  the  Plues  neighborhood  to  com- 
mence June  13,  and  as  Brother  Roberts  on  his  way 
to  meetings  in  Illinois  was  about  this  time  to  pass 
through  Michigan,  I  arranged  with  him  to  stop  and 
attend  this  meeting.  During  the  few  weeks  inter- 
vening between  the  quarterly  meeting  and  the  grove- 
meeting  I  traveled  all  over  that  section,  preaching 
and  advertising  the  basket-meeting,  calling  especial 
attention  to  the  fact  that  Rev.  B.  T.  Roberts,  our 
general  superintendent,  was  to  be  present.  The  re- 
port of  "this  new  kind  of  religion,"  as  it  was  called, 
had  gone  out  in  all  directions,  and  when  the  time  for 
the  meeting  arrived  people  drove  in  for  miles  to  see 
and  to  hear.  From  Hillsdale  county,  some  seventy 
miles  west  of  us,  came  quite  a  motley  crowd.  The 
leading  spirits  among  them  were  an  old  Englishman 
and  his  daughter  Elizabeth.  With  them  were  sev- 
eral persons,  one  of  whom  claimed  to  be  a  preacher. 
The  daughter  Helizabeth,  as  the  old  gentleman  per- 
sisted in  calling  her,  also  claimed  to  have  a  call  to 
preach,  and  on  several  occasions  had  attempted  to 
respond  to  the  call.  These  people  had  heard  of  the 
Free  Methodists,  and  evidently  supposed  that  noise 
and   demonstrations  were   the   surest   passports   to 


112  Reminiscences  of 

favor  among  them.  In  going  from  the  house  where 
they  were  entertained  to  the  grove  they  had  so  much 
religion  they  would  fall  in  the  road  and  shout  at  the 
top  of  their  voices.  We  did  not  attempt  to  put  any 
straps  on  them,  but  accorded  them  the  largest  liberty. 

On  Saturday  morning  I  sent  a  team  to  Monroe 
City  to  meet  Brother  Roberts  and  convey  him  to  the 
meeting.  Judge  of  my  disappointment  when  on  his 
return  the  man  informed  me  that  Brother  Roberts 
had  not  come.  I  had  done  the  preaching  so  far,  and 
decided  on  Saturday  afternoon  to  put  up  the  man  of 
the  Hillsdale  party  who  claimed  to  be  a  preacher. 
A  large  congregation  assembled,  and  all  in  eager 
expectation  of  hearing  our  bishop.  Uncouth  in  ap- 
pearance, in  manner  and  in  phrase,  the  preacher  an- 
nounced his  text  and  for  an  hour  or  so  harangued  us 
in  a  style  which  would  hardly  be  classed  under  the 
head  of  either  the  hortatory,  argumentative  or  ana- 
lytical. Sister  Hart  retired  behind  a  tree.  I  stood 
my  ground,  taxing  my  mind  as  to  the  best  method 
of  bringing  order  out  of  confusion.  The  speaker 
gave  us  to  distinctly  understand  that  he  had  not 
come  from  college  halls.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
congregation  supposed  that  they  were  listening  to 
the  bishop,  and  were  evidently  greatly  disappointed. 

As  soon  as  the  brother  brought  his  effort  to  a 
close  I  sprang  to  my  feet  and  announced  that  Brother 


Early  Free  Methodism  113 

Roberts  had  not  arrived,  but  that  we  hoped  to  have 
him  for  the  Sabbath  morning  service. 

I  preached  Saturday  evening,  and  on  retiring  that 
night  earnestly  prayed  that  Brother  Roberts  might 
put  in  an  appearance  by  morning.  Sabbath  morn- 
ing the  sun  came  up  bright  and  clear,  and  in 
the  freshness  of  early  summer  that  grove  of  beech 
and  maples  seemed  almost  like  a  paradise.  With 
one  exception  everything  seemed  favorable  for  suc- 
cess in  the  services  of  the  day.  Brother  Roberts 
had  not  arrived.  Giving  the  love-feast  into  the 
hands  of  Henry  Jones,  I  made  my  way  to  Plues'  ball- 
room and  looked  to  the  Lord  for  help  to  preach. 
These  words,  "Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness  for  they  shall  be  filled" 
(Matt.  5:  6),  were  impressed  on  my  heart  and  mind. 
The  hour  for  preaching  had  about  arrived.  A  was 
walking  back  and  forth  in  the  ballroom,  trying  to 
get  the  line  of  thought  fixed  in  my  mind,  when  sud- 
denly John  Plues  came  bounding  into  the  room 
shouting,  "Glory  be  to  God,  Roberts  has  come!" 
Breathing  a  sigh  of  relief,  as  fast  as  my  feet  could 
carry  me  I  made  my  way  to  the  grove  and  greeted 
Brother  Roberts.  I  allowed  the  love-feast  to  run  for 
a  little,  and  turning  to  Brother  Roberts  told  him  it 
was  time  for  preaching.  To  my  utter  astonishment 
Brother  Roberts  replied,  "I  am  not  going  to  preach; 


114  Reminiscences  of 

you  will  have  to  do  the  preaching  this  morning." 
Finding  him  fixed  in  his  determination,  I  went  at  it 
and  did  the  best  I  could.  Brother  Roberts  followed 
with  a  powerful  exhortation,  and  salvation  came. 
Brother  Roberts  preached  in  the  afternoon  with 
great  liberty,  and  the  people  went  away  well  satisfied 
with  our  bishop.  As  many  had  come  from  a  long 
distance,  we  had  no  meeting  at  night.  It  seems  that 
on  his  way  Brother  Roberts  had  been  detained  in 
Canada  and  did  not  reach  Ida  station  until  late  Sat- 
urday night,  and  Father  Jones  brought  him  over 
Sunday  morning  (see  pages  346,  347,  Life  of  Rob- 
erts). 

All  through  the  grove-meeting  the  company  from 
Hillsdale  county  were  quite  anxious  to  join  the 
church  and  be  authorized  to  raise  up  classes  in  the 
section  where  they  lived,  but  not  being  very  favora- 
bly impressed  with  their  appearance,  I  put  them  off. 
When  Brother  Roberts  arrived  they  renewed  their 
application  and  urged  him  to  receive  them  and  au- 
thorize them  to  hold  meetings  and  organize  classes. 
Finally,  as  they  were  pressing  their  case  with  Brother 
Roberts,  I  interfered,  and  partly  as  a  protection  to 
Brother  Roberts,  said,  "I  have  charge  of  this  work, 
and  you  will  be  obliged  to  consult  with  me."  Brother 
Roberts  looked  up  from  his  reading  and  said,  "You 
will  have  to  arrange  with  Brother  Hart  with  refer- 


Early  Free  Methodism  115 

ence  to  the  work  here."  I  told  them  I  intended  to 
go  on  to  Illinois  with  Brother  Roberts  to  attend  the 
Saint  Charles  camp-meeting,  and  that  I  would  stop 
at  their  place  on  my  way  back  and  spend  a  Sabbath 
with  them,  and  if  I  thought  best  would  then  organ- 
ize them  into  a  class. 

Sister  Hart  remained  to  help  in  the  work,  and  I 
went  on  with  Brother  Roberts  to  attend  the  camp- 
meeting.  I  visited  the  friends  at  Marengo.  Brother 
C.  S.  Gitchell  was  preaching  there,  and  at  that  time 
they  had  a  membership  of  over  one  hundred.  The 
camp-meeting  at  Saint  Charles  was  largely  attended 
and  one  of  the  best  ever  held  on  that  ground.  On 
my  return  trip  to  Ida  I  stopped  off  at  Hillsdale  and 
spent  the  Sabbath  with  the  people  who  attended  our 
grove-meeting  and  who  were  so  anxious  to  join  the 
church.  My  fears  as  to  their  eligibility  were  con- 
firmed, and  I  told  them  plainly  I  could  not  organize 
them  into  a  class.  The  old  gentleman  said  his 
daughter  had  appointments  in  the  southern  part  of 
Hillsdale  county,  and  urged  me  to  form  a  circuit  and 
appoint  the  girl  as  preacher  in  charge.  This  young 
woman  not  only  was  unable  to  read,  but  boasted  of 
her  ignorance  and  publicly  proclaimed  that  seeing 
she  was  so  ignorant  her  pulpit  efforts  must  be  all  of 
the  Lord.  I  gave  them  to  understand  that  at  some 
future  time  I  might,  in  company  with  my  wife,  make 


Ii6  Reminiscences  of 

them  a  visit.  Going  on  to  Monroe  county,  I  planned 
a  campaign  for  the  summer.  Living  on  the  Rasin 
river,  some  four  miles  below  the  Plues  schoolhouse, 
was  a  family  by  the  name  of  Atkinson,  who  were 
Quakers.  Years  before  the  father  and  mother  and 
six  or  seven  sons  had  come  from  New  Jersey  and 
settled  in  the  township  of  Raisinville.  Most  of  the 
sons  had  families  and  places  of  their  own,  but  Jona- 
than, the  youngest,  and  his  wife  Carrie  lived  on  the 
old  homestead  and  cared  for  the  parents.  Jonathan 
and  wife  were  members  of  the  Conformist  church, 
but  soon  united  with  our  people,  and  while  they 
lived  were  prominent  among  the  laity  of  the  church. 
We  were  now  having  calls  from  every  direction, 
and  getting  the  loan  of  a  buggy  and  harness  from 
Brother  Plues  and  a  horse  from  Brother  Atkinson 
we  started  to  spy  out  the  land.  We  went  from  neigh- 
borhood to  neighborhood,  preaching  in  a  different 
schoolhouse  each  night.  This  was  kept  up  nearly 
all  of  the  remainder  of  the  summer,  sometimes  not 
being  able  to  commence  services  until  nearly  nine 
o'clock.  Oftentimes  the  schoolhouse  would  be 
crowded  and  as  many  more  standing  outside,  so 
taking  my  position  in  the  door  I  would  announce  my 
text  and  preach  to  those  outside  as  well  as  inside 
the  house.  In  this  way  our  work  became  thoroughly 
advertized  throughout  all  that  part  of  the  State.  This 


Early  Free  Methodism  117 

was  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  war,  when  the  resources 
of  the  country  were  being  taxed  to  the  uttermost. 
Money  was  scarce  and  all  the  necessities  of  life  com- 
manded high  prices,  the  most  ordinary  cotton  prints 
being  fifty  cents  per  yard.  But  we  were  welcomed 
to  the  homes  of  the  people,  and  without  missionary 
appropriation  or  aid  saw  the  work  of  the  Lord  move 
on  in  power. 

We  received  a  letter  from  the  man  in  Hillsdale 
county,  urging  us  to  come  and  go  with  them  on 
their  round  of  appointments  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  county.  I  wrote  him  that  I  could  not  go  at 
present  as  I  did  not  have  the  money  for  railroad  fare. 
Not  many  days  passed  before  I  received  another 
communication  from  the  man,  with  five  dollars 
enclosed.  We  went  to  what  we  called  the  Wilker- 
son  schoolhouse,  intending  to  hold  a  series  of  meet- 
ings. Brother  and  Sister  Wilkerson  were  old  and 
tried  saints,  and  when  in  that  vicinity  we  always 
made  their  house  our  home.  We  were  considerably 
perplexed  as  to  the  right  course  to  pursue  with 
reference  to  the  call  from  Hillsdale  county.  We 
finally  concluded  we  would  return  the  five  dollars 
.and  inform  the  man  that  we  could  not  go  there.  I 
wrote  the  letter,  enclosing  the  money,  and  my  wife 
and  I  started  for  a  drive  of  several  miles  over  the 
old  plank  road  to  get  to  a  postoffice  to  mail  the 


Ii8  Reminiscences  of 

letter.  The  road  was  rough,  our  minds  were  not 
fairly  settled,  and  we  had  quite  a  peculiar  experience 
in  trying  to  reach  the  office,  for  although  no  speak- 
ing ass  stood  in  our  way,  a  clear  conviction  came  to 
both  of  us  that  we  were  going  contrary  to  the  will 
of  God  in  refusing  to  go  to  Hillsdale,  so  finally  we 
turned-  back,  concluding  to  comply  with  the  old 
gentleman's  request.  We  wrote  him  to  that  effect 
and  gave  him  the  date  on  which  to  meet  us  at  Hills- 
dale station.  We  returned  to  Brother  Plues'  house 
and  found  a  letter  from  home  stating  that  Sister 
Coon  was  to  pass  through  Michigan  on  her  way 
East,  and  if  we  desired  would  stop  a  few  days  with 
us.  We  wrote  back,  giving  the  date  of  our  visit  to 
Hillsdale,  and  requested  her  to  meet  us  there. 

Leaving  our  baby  with  the  Plues  girls  we  went 
on  to  Hillsdale,  where  Sister  Coon  met  us.  We 
waited  at  the  hotel  until  the  old  gentleman  and  wife 
and  daughter  came  along  in  a  heavy  farm  wagon  to 
take  us  to  Steamburg,  about  four  miles  south,  where 
the  girl  had  an  appointment  for  that  Saturday  even- 
ing. On  the  way  the  young  woman  told  us  of  her 
wonderful  efforts  in  preaching  the  gospel,  until  Sister 
Coon  could  stand  it  no  longer  and  said  to  her,  -'My 
dear  girl,  stop  talking  about  preaching;  but  if  the 
Lord  enables  you  to  do  any  little  thing  for  him  do 
it  and  say  nothing  about  it."     I  made  some  inquiries 


Early  Free  Methodism  119 

about  the  people  in  the  neighborhood  where  we  were 
going  and  the  girl  said,  "  Oh,  they  are  an  ignorant 
set!"  "Why,"  said  she,  "the  last  time  I  was  there 
and  gave  out  the  appointment  we  are  going  to,  a 
young  man  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  came  up  and 
inquired  how  much  the  admittance  would  be  the 
next  time  I  came.  I  said,  'It  will  be  nothing;  this 
is  a  free  gospel.'  *  Oh,'  he  said,  *I  thought  it  would 
be  a  quarter  at  least.' "  I  began  to  mistrust  that  the 
people  had  more  intelligence  than  the  girl  gave  them 
credit  for,  and  that  they  were  ridiculing  her.  Arriv- 
ing at  the  place  we  found  a  large  steam  mill,  from 
which  the  corners  derived  its  name.  It  was  in  the 
midst  of  a  rich  farming  country.  The  schoolhouse 
was  a  large  frame  building  having  a  belfry  and  a 
bell.  As  it  was  about  time  for  meeting  we  drove 
directly  to  the  schoolhouse.  I  could  see  that  the 
people  had  been  drawn  together  largely  by  curiosity, 
and  there  seemed  to  be  anything  but  a  spirit  of 
devotion  there.  There  was  no  light  in  the  house. 
After  a  little  the  old  gentleman  came  to  me  and  said 
it  was  time  for  preaching.  I  confess  that  I  felt  a 
little  like  keeping  in  the  background,  and  said  to 
him,  "The  people  have  come  out  to  hear  your 
daughter  and  probably  she  had  better  preach."  He 
went  to  tell  her  to  preach  when  some  one  in  the  ves- 
tibule asked  him  if  there  was  not  a  Free  Methodist 


120  Reminiscences  of 

preacher  present.  He  said  there  was,  when  the  per- 
son replied,  "We  can  hear  your  daughter  at  some 
other  time;  we  want  to  hear  him  to-night."  The 
father  came  back  and  told  me  that  some  Wesleyan 
Methodists  were  there  and  wanted  to  hear  a  Free 
Methodist  preach.  I  felt  that  I  had  made  a  mistake, 
so  said  at  once,  "111  preach." 

Stepping  up  behind  the^desk  I  inquired,  "Can 
we  have  a  light?"  Several  persons  went  out  and 
brought  in  lamps,  and  now  curiosity  was  at  a  higher 
pitch  than  before.  We  began  to  sing,  "  It  is  the  very 
same  Jesus,"  etc.,  and  in  breathless  silence  the  con- 
gregation waited  for  further  developments.  I  arose 
and  announced  for  a  text  the  words,  "I  speak  as  to 
wise  men;  judge  ye  what  I  say."  I  had  a  fairly  free 
time  in  trying  to  place  the  consciousness  of  respon- 
sibility by  showing  that  wisdom  is  the  right  use  of 
knowledge,  and  that  whether  a  person  knows  much 
or  little  he  who  fails  to  make  a  right  use  of  the 
knowledge  he  has  is  not  a  wise  man.  I  brought  in 
the  words  of  Jesus  with  reference  to  building  on  rock 
or  on  sand.  At  the  close  I  gave  opportunity  for 
testimony.  Sister  Hart  and  Sister  Coon  spoke  posi- 
tively and  definitely  as  to  the  power  of  God  to  save, 
and  it  was  plainly  evident  that  a  change  had  come 
over  the  minds  of  the  people.  A  pale,  consumptive- 
looking  woman,  wearing  about  as  much  jewelry  as 


Early  Free  Methodism  121 

could  be  made  to  hang  on,  arose  at  the  back  of  the 
house  and  told  how  long  she  had  been  a  professor 
of  religion,  how  destitute  of  grace  she  was,  and  how 
anxiously  she  longed  for  a  type  of  religion  that 
would  save  her  from  her  pride  and  sin.  A  noble- 
looking  man  arose  and  said,  "This  meeting  puts  me 
in  mind  of  meetings  I  attended  some  years  ago  in 
Woodstock,  Illinois,  held  by  one  Doctor  Redfield;" 
and  added,  "Possibly  there  are  some  here  to-night 
who  knew  him."     I  responded,  "Yes,  thank  God!" 

Our  next  chapter  will  show  that  the  Master  some- 
times chooses  a  very  unlikely  donkey  on  which  to 
ride  into  the  fulfilment  of  the  Father's  will. 


122  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  fine  looking  man  and  invalid  woman  mentioned 
in  our  last  chapter,  who  spoke  in  the  meeting  that 
Saturday  evening  in  the  schoolhouse  at  Steamburg, 
were  John  Ellison  and  his  wife  Eunice;  and  although 
at  that  time  they  knew  nothing  of  the  Free  Meth- 
odist church,  they  were  in  the  providence  of  God  to 
become  the  chief  agency  in  raising  up  the  work  in 
that  part  of  the  state  and  to  prove  important  factors 
in  the  formation  of  the  conference.  Brother  Ellison 
was  attending  the  Free-will  Baptist  college  at  Hills- 
dale and  preaching  to  a  church  of  that  order  a  few 
miles  south  of  the  city.  On  the  Saturday  of  our 
visit  to  Steamburg  he,  together  with  his  wife,  had 
intended  to  get  an  early  start  and  spend  the  day  in 
visiting  among  his  members,  but  they  were  detained, 
and  being  unable  to  get  away  from  home  until  late 
in  the  afternoon,  they  decided  to  stop  with  one  of 
his  members  at  Steamburg  until  Sunday  morning. 
On  his  way  from  home  someone  informed  Brother 
Ellison  that  a  woman  was  to  speak  at  the  school- 
house  that  evening.  Concluding  that  she  must  be 
either  a  Spiritualist  or  an  Adventist,  he  made  up  his 


Early  Free  Methodism  123 

mind  to  attend  the  meeting  and  meet  any  erroneous 
teaching  which  might  be  advanced.  He  reached  the 
schoolhouse  just  in  time,  as  he  passed  through  the 
gate,  to  hear  the  singing,  "  'Tis  the  very  same  Jesus." 
He  said  to  himself,  "There  is  no  Adventism  or  Spir- 
itualism about  that."  He  went  into  the  house  and 
saw  a  man  in  the  pulpit,  and  something  about  the 
spirit  of  the  services  brought  to  remembrance  the 
meetings  held  by  Doctor  Redfield  in  Woodstock, 
Illinois,  some  years  before.  He  afterwards  told  us 
that  he  attended  the  doctor's  meetings  because  he 
liked  to  hear  him  preach,  but  somehow  the  truth  did 
not  get  into  his  heart.  But  on  that  Saturday  night 
in  the  schoolhouse  his  heart  was  opened  and  Doctor 
Redfield's  preaching  in  its  light  and  power  flashed 
upon  him. 

At  the  close  of  the  service  Brother  and  Sister 
Ellison  came  to  us  and  insisted  upon  our  going  to 
the  place  where  they  were  stopping  and  spending 
the  night  there.  Their  host  came  up  and  seconded 
their  request,  but  I  told  them  I  had  three  appoint- 
ments for  the  next  day  and  that  I  was  dependent  on 
this  old  gentleman  for  conveyance  and  could  not  go 
with  them.  Upon  hearing  that.  Brother  Ellison's 
friend  said,  "I  have  a  good  two-seated  carriage  and 
I  will  take  you  to  your  appointments."  The  way 
opening  so  clearly  for  us,  we  decided  to  stop  with 


124  Reminiscences  of 

Brother  and  Sister  Ellison.  My  old  friend  was  quite 
put  out  at  this  and  declared  he  would  not  come  for 
us  in  the  morning,  but  I  told  him  we  would  get  to 
the  appointment,  and  he  went  on  to  the  neighbor- 
hood where  I  was  to  preach  the  next  morning.  We 
spent  most  of  the  night  in  talking  with  Brother  and 
Sister  Ellison.  They  seemed  eager  to  get  the  light. 
In  the  morning  when  Sister  Ellison  came  to  the 
breakfast  table  we  noticed  that  the  jewelry  had  been 
laid  aside.  Brother  Ellison  had  to  go  to  his  morn- 
ing  appointment,  but  said  he  would  be  at  our  after- 
noon  meeting.  Our  morning  appointment  was  at 
the  Black  schoolhouse,  the  neighborhood  I  visited 
when  we  stopped  off  at  Osseo  with  our  sick  child. 
In  the  afternoon  I  preached  at  what  was  called  the 
Blunt  schoolhouse.  Brother  Ellison  and  wife  and 
several  of  their  members  were  present. 

I  invited  Brother  Ellison  to  attend  a  grove-meet- 
ing we  were  to  hold  in  about  two  weeks  in  the  Jones 
neighborhood  near  Ida  station.  He  said  if  he  could 
possibly  get  away  he  would  be  with  us  at  that  meet- 
ing. I  did  not  go  to  the  evening  appointment.  It 
was  quite  a  distance,  and  being  up  so  late  the  night 
before  we  staid  with  a  friend  near  the  station,  and  in 
the  morning  took  the  train  at  Osseo  and  returned  to 
Monroe  county.  The  old  gentleman  and  his  daugh- 
ter went  on  to  the  evening  appointment,  and  I  was 


Early  Free  Methodism  125 

afterwards  informed  he  told  the  people,  "We  are 
happily  disappointed  that  Brother  Hart  is  not  here, 
and  my  daughter  will  now  preach."  This  old  man, 
who  was  the  means  of  getting  us  into  that  section, 
was  not  long  after  arrested  for  crime  and  sentenced 
to  several  years  imprisonment  at  Jackson.  So  the 
means  used  were  unlikely,  but  the  result  was  grand. 
Brother  Ellison  was  with  us  at  the  grove-meeting 
near  Ida.  He  earnestly  sought  the  experience  of  a 
clean  heart.  His  consecration  was  deep  and  thor- 
ough. On  Monday  morning  just  before  he  left  for 
home  he  said,  "Brother  Hart,  the  Lord  shows  me 
that  one  of  three  things  must  take  place— either  my 
people  must  come  up  to  this  standard  of  salvation, 
or  I  must  back  down,  or  I  must  leave  the  Free-will 
Baptist  church."  I  said  to  him,  "Brother  Ellison,  all 
I  ask  of  you,  and  I  believe  all  that  God  asks  of  you, 
is  not  to  back  down."  .  He  answered  firmly,  "By  the 
grace  of  God  I  will  not."  It  was  at  this  meeting  that 
Sister  Frink  broke  down  and  got  blessed. 

The  grove-meeting  over.  Sister  Hart  and  myself 
went  on  to  attend  the  session  of  the  Illinois  confer- 
ence held  at  Saint  Charles,  Illinois,  Thursday,  Sep- 
tember 22,  1864.  Joseph  Jones  was  sent  as  lay  dele- 
gate to  represent  the  Michigan  work.  Henry  Jones, 
although  not  present,  was  received  into  the  traveling 
connection  on  trial.     N.  D.  Fanning,  C.  S.  Gitchell 


126  Reminiscences  of 

and  M.  V.  Clute  had  been  received  on  trial  the  year 
before  and  were  continued.  J.  Miller  and  George  H. 
Fox  were  admitted  into  full  connection.  This  was 
the  Brother  Fox  whose  camp-meeting  Brother  Travis 
and  I  attended  in  Wisconsin  in  June,  i860.  W.  D. 
Bishop  and  J.  E.  Whiting  were  also  received  on  trial 
at  this  session.  At  the  beginning  of  this  conference 
year  Rev.  J.  W.  Redfield,  also  Rev.  Ira  G.  Gould, 
had  passed  away.  At  the  request  of  the  committee 
on  memoirs  Brother  Roberts  preached  a  sermon  in 
memory  of  these  devoted  men  of  God.  Brother 
Gould  had  come  to  us  from  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
connection.  He  was  a  young  man  of  uncommon 
promise.  He  commenced  preaching  at  the  age  of 
eighteen.  He  was  ordained  by  the  Wesleyan  church, 
but  experienced  the  blessing  of  entire  sanctification 
among  our  people.  Someone  tried  to  convince  him 
that  he  had  taken  a  wrong  step  in  leaving  the  Wes- 
leyan church  and  joining  the  Free  Methodists  and 
presented  several  strong  reasons.  Brother  Gould 
listened  attentively  and  then  said,  "I  never  took 
that  view  of  the  matter.  With  me  it  was  a  question 
of  heaven  or  hell."  He  would  get  wonderfully 
blessed  and  jump,  with  his  watch  flying  from  his 
pocket  and  dangling  by  the  cord.  A  denunciatory 
spirit  was  beginning  to  creep  in,  and  I  spent  every 
moment  I  could  spare  from  my  work  as  secretary, 


Early  Free  Methodism  127 

with  Brother  Roberts,  trying  to  devise  some  means 
by  which  it  might  be  kept  out.  With  the  assistance 
of  Brother  Roberts  I  drew  up  the  report  on  the  state 
of  the  work,  and  after  submitting  it  to  Brother  Travis 
and  making  the  additions  suggested  by  him  pre- 
sented it  to  the  conference.     This  was  the  report: 

Your  committee  beg  leave  to  report  as  follows:  We  deem 
it  of  the  first  importance  that  we  be  united  among  ourselves. 
Having  taken,  by  the  grace  of  God,  an  uncomprising  stand 
against  all  sin,  having  come  out  from  the  world,  and  therefore 
looking,  according  to  the  saying  of  Jesus,  that  the  world 
will  hate  us — and  having  not  only  the  pro-slavery  and  secret 
society  influence,  but  the  influence  of  the  fashionable,  formal 
churches  of  the  day  all  combined  against  us,  we  feel  deeply  the 
necessity  of  union  among  ourselves.  If  we  are  united  what  can 
stand  against  us?  But  as  our  excellent  Discipline  says,  in  the 
i6th  section  of  Chap.  3d,  a  section  that  we  would  do  well  to 
read  and  ponder,  "If  we  divide  we  shall  destroy  ourselves,  the 
work  of  God  and  the  souls  of  our  people."  We  must  keep  to- 
gether; the  necessity  is  imperative.  That  we  may,  let  us  see 
wherein  we  are  united ,  and 

1.  We  are  Free  Methodists.  We  hold  to  the  common 
doctrines  of  Methodism.  In  particular  we  believe  cordially  in 
the  doctrine  of  entire  sanctification,  and  that  it  is  an  instanta- 
neous work,  attainable  by  faith. 

2.  The  great  end  of  our  faith  is  the  salvation  of  the  soul. 
No  earthly  interest  can  bear  any  comparison  to  this;  therefore 
our  labors  in  private  and  public  should  be  directly  calculated 
to  save  souls  and  build  them  up  in  faith  and  holiness.  We 
should  make  no  conditions  of  salvation  that  are  not  found  in 
the  Word  of  God. 

3.  We  believe  that  God  does  still  answer  prayer  for  the 
healing  of  the  body,  according  to  James  v:  15,  "And  the  prayer 
of  faith  shall  save  the  sick."  Methodist  biographies  contain  too 
many  well-authenticated  cases,  and  too  many  instances  have 


128  Reminiscences  of 

occurred  among  us,  for  us  to  call  this  truth  in  question.  But 
we  do  not  believe  that  anyone  has  the  power  to  heal  whoever 
he  pleases,  or  when  he  pleases.  Nor  is  the  gift  of  healing  to  be 
sought  after  as  a  distinct,  specific  blessing.  This  with  all  other 
spiritual  gifts  God  divides  to  every  man  severally  as  he,  God, 
will. 

4.  While  we  hold  to  being  led  by  the  Spirit,  we  do  not  be- 
lieve that  anyone  is  so  fully  led  by  it  that  he  is  not  liable  to 
make  mistakes.  Though  the  Spirit  of  God  cannot  err,  we  can, 
and  we  may  think  we  are  led  by  the  Spirit  when  we  are  not. 
God's  Spirit  never  leads  us  contrary  to  his  Word,  nor  in  a  way 
to  supercede  the  necessity  of  diligently  searching  the  same  that 
we  may  know  the  mind  of  the  Lord. 

5.  We  believe  that  modern  spiritism  is  of  the  devil,  and  we 
have  no  sympathy  with  it  in  any  of  its  forms  and  phases. 
Neither  have  we  any  fellowship  with  the  heresies  of  Mormon- 
ism  or  the  so-called  latter-day  saints. 

6.  Thus  far  we  are  agreed,  and  while  we  differ  somewhat  it 
may  be  in  our  modes  of  working,  and  in  our  judgment  of  the 
best  method  of  dealing  with  such  extravagances  as  have 
always  manifested  themselves  in  connection  with  a  powerful 
work  of  God,  still  we  will  cherish  the  most  cordial  love  and 
sympathy  for  each  other,  we  will  be  more  careful  in  believing 
reports  to  the  prejudice  of  a  brother,  and  when  we  hear  them 
we  will  not  relate  them  to  others  nor  lay  them  up  against  him 
until  we  have  communicated  them  to  the  brother  to  whom  they 
refer  and  have  received  his  explanation. 

7.  We  would  call  attention  to  the  indulgence  of  a  spirit  of 
ostentatious  display,  accompanied  by  a  spirit  of  unhallowed 
bitterness  which  manifests  itself  in  indiscriminate  attacks  upon 
the  ministers  and  upon  each  other,  breaking  in  upon  the  tried 
and  established  forms  of  worship,  the  bearing  of  blind  burdens 
(see  Wesley's  sermon  on  evil  speaking),  at  the  same  time  neg- 
lecting to  give  private  reproof  according  to  Scripture  rule. 
Matt,  xviii.  15-17.  Your  committee  believe  were  these  things 
done  away  which  render  it  impossible  to  keep  the  unity  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace,  we  might  consistently  pray  and 


Early  Free  Methodism  129 

believe  for  those  baptisms  of  the  Spirit  so  necessary  to  carry  on 
the  work  of  God  among  us.  Praying  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church  to  give  us  mutual  forbearance  and  a  patient  and  teach- 
able spirit,  gentleness  and  meekness  with  all  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit,  we  most  respectfully  submit  the  above. 

The  report  was  adopted,  and  for  a  time  had  the 
desired  effect.  Underwood,  Dake  and  Ribble  were 
ordained  elders  at  this  session.  I  think  I  have  failed 
to  state  that  I  was  ordained  elder  at  the  session  held 
at  Aurora  the  previous  year.  From  my  work  in 
Michigan  I  reported  one  in  full  connection  and 
thirty-eight  on  probation.  The  appointments  for 
that  year  read,  Michigan  district,  E.  P.  Hart,  chair- 
man and  evangelist;  Raisinville,  VV.  D.  Bishop,  H. 
Jones. 

We  returned  to  Ida  and  with  Brother  W.  D 
Bishop  and  wife  went  to  housekeeping  in  rooms  in 
the  house  of  Jonathan  Atkinson.  Brother  Bishop 
and  Henry  Jones  filled  the  regular  appointments, 
and  my  wife  and  myself  went  to  regions  beyond. 
One  day  while  on  our  way  to  the  old  Baptist  church 
spoken  of  before  it  seemed  as  though  the  powers  of 
darkness  had  combined  to  hinder  us,  until  finally  I 
was  constrained  to  cry  out,  "Lord  Jesus,  drive  back 
the  powers  of  hell."  We  made  our  way  to  the 
church,  where  a  large  congregation  had  assembled. 
The  Lord  came  in  wonderful  power  and  there  was  a 
general  break  for  the  altar.     We  had  intended  to 


130  Reminiscences  of 

preach  there  only  one  evening,  but  it  became  so 
evident  that  this  was  the  set  time  for  God  to  favor 
Zion  that  I  sent  on  and  cancelled  all  other  engage- 
ments and  for  four  weeks  held  on  at  that  point.  This 
was  a  remarkable  meeting  in  many  respects.  Some 
saw  sights  and  some  dreamed  dreams,  and  the 
country  was  stirred  for  miles  in  every  direction.  One 
wicked  man  declared  that  as  he  passed  the  grave- 
yard on  his  way  from  meeting  he  saw  a  ball  of  fire 
which  shone  so  brightly  that  his  horse  was  so  fright- 
ened he  could  hardly  urge  him  along.  Women 
declared  that  their  stoves  shook,  and  the  community 
was  in  a  fever  of  excitement. 

The  ringleader  in  sin  in  the  community  near  the 
close  of  the  services  one  evening  came  marching 
down  the  aisle  to  the  pulpit  where  I  was  standing 
inviting  seekers  forward,  and  in  an  excited  tone  said, 
"I  want  to  ask  you  a  question."  I  said,  "Very  well;" 
and  he  cried  out,  "I  know  there  is  the  right  and  the 
wrong.  I  know  there  is  a  heaven  and  a  hell.  I  want 
to  shun  one  and  gain  the  other,  but  I  am  without 
feeling.  What  am  I  to  do?"  I  replied:  "My  dear 
sir,  that  very  desire  is  begotten  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Cherish  it  and  you  can  be  saved."  Turning  toward 
his  comrades  in  the  back  of  the  house,  with  a  wave 
of  his  hand  he  cried  out,  "Farewell,"  and  fell  on  his 
knees  at  the  penitent  form.     This  was  in  the  neigh- 


Early  Free  Methodism  131 

borhood  where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frink  lived.  We  were 
kindly  entertained  at  their  house  during  the  meet- 
ing. Mrs.  Frink  kept  getting  out  into  the  light  and 
prayed  earnestly  for  her  husband.  While  he  did  not 
move  out  very  rapidly  it  required  no  great  degree  of 
spiritual  discernment  to  see  that  the  woe  was  on  him 
and  that  he  must  sooner  or  later  yield  to  the  claims 
of  God.  Not  many  months  passed  before,  with 
their  horse  and  buggy,  little  girl  and  gripsacks,  they 
were  out  proclaiming  the  great  salvation.  At  the 
close  of  the  meeting,  instead  of  at  once  forming  a 
class,  I  told  them  that  no  preventing  providence  I 
would  be  around  in  about  three  weeks  and  that  any 
who  after  considering  the  matter  might  desire  to  unite 
with  us  could  at  that  time  have  the  opportunity. 
Ordinarily  this  might  be  leaving  open  too  much  of  a 
gap,  but  in  this  instance  it  made  the  converts  all  the 
more  anxious  to  join. 

During  this  time  a  preacher  of  another  denomina- 
tion came  along  and  preached  and  informed  the 
people  that  their  latch-string  always  hung  out.  But 
the  converts  waited  for  our  return  and  I  informed 
them  that  we  did  not  hang  out  our  latch-string  long 
enough  for  the  world  and  the  devil  to  come  in  and 
wanted  only  live  fish,  such  as  could  swim  against  the 
current.  I  do  not  remember  the  number  taken  in, 
but  a  good  society  was  formed.     This  for  years  has 


132  Reminiscences  of 

been  a  permanent  appointment  and  our  people  used 
the  old  Baptist  church  until  they  built  a  house  of 
their  own.  A  son  and  daughter  of  Sister  Lewis  were 
saved  in  this  meeting,  also  a  Mrs.  Irish  whose  hus- 
band was  away  in  the  army.  On  his  return,  in  a 
meeting  held  here  by  B.  R.  Jones,  he  was  grandly 
saved  and  for  years  was  one  of  our  sweetest  spirited 
and  most  efficient  preachers. 

Years  afterwards  the  Methodists  made  flattering 
proposals  to  a  son  of  Brother  Irish  who  desired  to  fit 
himself  for  the  ministry,  and  the  going  of  the  son 
drew  the  father  also;  I  regret  to  be  obliged  to  add 
that  Brother  Irish  yielding  to  the  influences  by  which 
he  was  surrounded  joined  the  Masons  and  became 
dead  and  formal. 


Early  Free  Methodism  133 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

In  company  with  Henry  Jones  we  went  up  on  the 
Huron  river  and  opened  up  the  work  in  that  region. 
One  evening  at  the  close  of  the  service  in  a  school- 
house  a  man  came  up  to  me  and  in  an  excited  tone 
inquired,  "What  is  your  name,  and  where  are  you 
from,  and  where  are  you  going?"  I  answered,  "My 
name  is  E.  P.  Hart,  I  am  from  Illinois,  and  I  am 
going  to  heaven."  He  further  inquired,  "How  do 
you  live?"  I  replied'  "Spiritually,  on  the  bread  of 
heaven;  physically,  on  meat,  bread  and  potatoes." 
That  man  was  not  long  in  getting  into  the  fountain, 
and  ever  after  Job  Burnap  was  careful  to  see  that 
provision  for  our  physical  man  was  not  wanting. 

My  wife  and  I  were  driving  one  day  on  a  corduroy 
road  through  a  swamp,  when  the  horse  became 
nervous  and  well-nigh  unmanageable.  Getting  out 
of  the  buggy,  I  took  the  animal  by  the  bit,  patted 
her,  spoke  encouragingly  to  her,  and  succeeded  in 
leading  her  quietly  across.  As  we  afterwards  learned 
from  the  men  themselves,  two  brothers  by  the  name 
of  French  were  out  in  the  swamp  that  afternoon 
hunting,  and  unknown  to  us  were  looking  on  as  I 


134  Reminiscences  of 

persuaded  the  animal  quietly  across  the  rough  place. 
They  at  once  said,  "That  must  be  the  new  preacher 
and  his  wife,  who  are  holding  meetings  at  the  school- 
house.  We'll  go  up  to-night  and  hear  him."  They 
went,  were  brought  under  the  convincing  power  of 
the  truth  and  Spirit,  and  were  soundly  converted. 
They  joined  the  church  and  remained  reliable  mem- 
bers to  the  day  of  death.  They  afterwards  said  to 
Sister  Hart,  *Tf  your  husband  had  spoken  harshly  or 
struck  that  horse  we  never  would  have  gone  near 
your  meeting." 

Uncle  Horace  Ash  was  a  man  of  God  and  known 
all  through  that  section.  In  some  way  years  before 
he  had  received  the  light  and  had  been  brought  out 
into  the  experience  of  entire  sanctification.  When 
we  went  into  his  neighborhood  he  at  once  recog- 
nized the  joyful  sound  and  immediately  fell  into 
line.  His  brother,  known  as  Uncle  Arby  wanted 
to  be  good  but  lacked  the  experience.  He  diligently 
sought  the  Lord  and  with  his  large  family  of  sons 
helped  materially  in  establishing  the  work  in  that 
part  of  the  State.  His  son  Jim  never  seemed  to 
have  the  confidence  to  claim  saving  grace  but  he  was 
none  the  less  ready  to  help  on  the  work.  A  number 
of  times  when  we  were  without  conveyance  and 
wanted  to  get  from  one  neighborhood  to  another 
Jim  would  come  up  at  the  close  of  the  service  and 


Early  Free  Methodism  135 

say  slyly,  "Brother  Hart,  my  team  is  on  the  altar." 
Several  appointments  were  established  and  Brother 
Bishop  and  wife  moved  to  that  post  and  took  charge 
of  the  work. 

In  the  spring  we  held  a  grove-meeting  in  one  of 
the  neighborhoods.  Living  near  by  was  a  man  known 
as  Uncle  Johnny  Clark.  He  held  the  office  of 
justice  of  the  peace.  He  was  a  kind-hearted  man 
but  addicted  to  the  liquor  habit,  a  fearful  slave  to 
tobacco,  and  years  before  in  the  amputation  of  one 
of  his  legs  had  contracted  the  opium  habit.  Further 
he  was  a  staunch  Democrat,  one  of  the  old  school, 
who  could  hardly  believe  that  a  "nigger"  had  a  soul. 
We  closed  the  grove-meeting  with  the  afternoon 
service.  Conviction  was  on  the  people  all  through 
the  community.  Brother  Bishop  gave  out  an 
appointment  for  the  evening  at  the  schoolhouse. 
Although  Uncle  Johnny  Clark  did  not  attend  the 
grove-meeting  on  his  crutch  and  his  wooden  leg  he 
hobbled  over  to  the  evening  meeting  at  the  school- 
house  and  earnestly  sought  salvation.  The  Lord 
heard  the  poor  man  cry  and  delivered  him  from  his 
trouble.  He  went  on  in  experience  until  cleansed 
from  all  filthiness  of  flesh  and  spirit.  The  last  time 
I  heard  Uncle  Johnny  testify  was  at  a  quarterly 
meeting  we  held  in  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  church 
on    the   "old   plank   road."     With   streaming   eyes, 


136  Reminiscences  of 

leaning  on  his  crutch,  the  old  gentleman  told  how 
God  had  saved  him  from  tobacco,  whiskey  and 
opium,  and  then  added,  "As  I  was  driving  to  town 
the  other  day  I  saw  a  colored  man  coming,  and  some- 
thing said  to  me,  'That  man  is  your  brother,'  and  as 
he  came  up  I  bowed  to  him  and  he  bowed  very 
respectfully,  and  oh  how  God  blessed  me!"  Uncle 
Johnny  died  not  long  after  and  went  to  join  the 
innumerable  company  "who  have  gotten  the  victory 
over  the  beast  and  over  his  image  and  over  his  mark 
and  over  the  number  of  his  name,  and  who  stand  on 
the  sea  of  glass,  having  the  harps  of  God." 

From  the  grove-meeting  near  Ida,  Rev.  John  Elli- 
son returned  to  Hillsdale  and  began  to  preach  holi- 
ness to  his  people.  For  a  few  Sabbaths  there  was  no 
visible  opposition,  and  several  of  his  members  began 
to  seek  the  experience.  But  before  many  weeks  had 
passed  a  society  meeting  was  held  and  Brother  Elli- 
son was  notified  that  they  did  not  care  to  have  his 
services  as  pastor  any  longer.  Upon  this,  several  of 
the  members  who  had  gotten  out  into  the  light  with- 
drew from  the  society  and  Brother  Ellison  preached 
to  them  at  the  Blunt  scKoolhouse.  After  awhile 
they  began  to  feel  that  they  ought  to  have  a  home. 
Most  of  them  were  in  favor  of  joining  the  Free  Meth- 
odist church,  and  Brother  Ellison's  sympathies  were 
in  that  direction,  but  he  thought  tKe  time  had  not 


Early  Free  Methodism  137 

yet  come  for  him  to  take  the  step.  He  finally  wrote 
me  informing  me  how  matters  stood,  and  stated  that 
while  he  did  not  feel  like  joining  us  at  present  he 
thought  if  I  would  make  them  a  visit  several  would 
unite  and  if  I  organized  a  class  and  so  desired  he 
would  preach  for  them.  I  at  once  went,  and  on 
Sabbath  morning  preached  at  the  Blunt  schoolhouse. 
I  then  read  and  explained  our  Discipline.  Brother 
Ellison  seemed  quite  uneasy,  and  as  I  was  about  to 
give  opportunity  for  any  who  might  desire  to  join  to 
step  out  and  answer  the  questions.  Brother  Ellison 
stepped  up  and  whispered  in  my  ear,  "Go  ahead. 
Brother  Hart,  I'll  go  the  whole  hog."  Not  a  very 
elegant,  but  quite  an  expressive  way  of  signifying  his 
determination  to  join.  So  we  formed  quite  a  class, 
and  Brother  Ellison  was  duly  installed  as  pastor. 
From  this  beginning  our  work  spread  through  the 
western  part  of  the  state.  Ira  W.  Bell,  for  years  one 
of  our  most  efficient  and  most  reliable  preachers,  also 
Brothers  Mabbs,  Leisenring  and  others,  were  raised 
up.  Some  have  remained  with  us,  some  have  felt 
called  to  go  elsewhere  and  some  have  been  called  to 
their  eternal  reward.  A  Sister  M.  was  prominent 
among  those  of  Brother  Ellison's  members  who  got 
saved  and  came  with  our  people.  Her  husband  was 
in  the  army.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Free-will 
Baptist  church.   When  he  returned  home  and  learned 


138  Reminiscences  of 

of  the  step  his  wife  had  taken  he  was  greatly  dis- 
pleased and  was  full  of  fault-finding.  These  things 
came  to  my  ears,  and  seeing  him  in  the  congregation 
one  day  I  took  occasion  in  some  advice  I  was  giving 
to  say:  "There  are  some  people  who,  if  they  would 
spend  half  as  much  time  in  prayer  as  they  do  in 
fault-finding,  would  get  along  better  in  their  experi- 
ence." The  shot  went  to  the  intended  mark.  At 
the  close  of  the  service  the  man  came  up,  and  putting 
a  dollar  in  my  hand  thanked  me  for  the  advice  and 
said  he  would  try  to  profit  by  it.  He  got  saved 
and  lived  and  died  a  member  of  one  of  our  confer- 
ences. 

The  way  opened  and  our  work  spread  out  into 
Branch  county.  South  Quincy  became  a  rallying 
point.  Sylvester  Forbes,  from  Illinois,  the  eccentric 
preacher  spoken  of  before,  came  over  to  Michigan 
and  held  meetings  at  different  points.  He  was  a 
peculiar  looking  man,  very  effeminate  in  appearance, 
having  a  voice  like  a  woman's  and  was  a  good  singer. 
He  held  a  meeting  in  the  schoolhouse  at  South 
Quincy.  Living  in  the  neighborhood  was  a  family 
by  the  name  of  Nichols.  The  wife  was  a  strong 
Baptist.  John,  the  husband,  made  no  profession. 
John  was  busy  in  his  sap-bush  and  would  not  attend 
meeting,  but  the  eccentricities  of  the  preacher  were 
so  much  talked  about  that  John,  one  Sunday  evening 


Early  Free  Methodism  139 

after  working  all  day  carrying  sap,  concluded  he 
would  go  and  hear  the  man.  The  preacher  went  on 
to  tell  how  cheaply  some  people  would  sell  their 
souls.  "Why,"  he  exclaimed,  "there  is  a  man  in  this 
community  who  will  sell  his  soul  for  a  pail  of  sap!" 
Something  said  to  John,  "Thou  art  the  man,"  and  he 
began  earnestly  to  seek  salvation. 

Sister  Nichols  was  a  great  stickler  for  immersion, 
and  was  a  good  deal  troubled  because  the  Free 
Methodist  church  was  not  exclusive  on  that  line. 
But  the  Lord  cleared  the  matter  all  up  for  her.  She 
had  a  beautiful  boy  baby,  and  concluded  to  dedicate 
him  to  God  in  infant  baptism.  "Now,"  said  she,  "I 
am  a  Free  Methodist.  I  was  immersed  in  water,  in 
the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  the  Spirit  was  poured 
on  me,  and  my  baby  is  sprinkled.  I  have  all  the 
three  modes." 

In  that  community  we  had  several  of  the  most 
powerful  camp-meetings  I  ever  attended.  Our  camp- 
meetings  of  those  days  were  of  the  primitive  order. 
Each  family  had  its  own  tent,  made  of  common 
"factory"  and  interlined  with  sheets.  The  frame  was 
of  poles  cut  in  the  grove.  We  had  no  tabernacle, 
but  had  a  rough  stand  for  a  pulpit,  so  constructed 
that  twenty  or  more  preachers  could  sleep  in  the 
back  part,  and  this  also  answered  for  a  temporary 
jail  in  which    any  roughs  who  persisted  in  disturb- 


140  Reminiscences  of 

ing  the  services  might  be  confined  until  the  proper 
official  could  come  and  take  them  away  for  trial. 
But  in  the  large  number  of  camp-meetings  we  held, 
I  do  not  recall  more  than  two  or  three  instances  in 
which  we  were  obliged  to  resort  to  force  to  keep 
order.  We  usually  had  so  much  going  on  at  the 
altar  that  the  attention  of  all  classes  was  held  to  so 
late  an  hour  that  they  were  glad  to  go  home  for  rest. 
We  had  large  "fire  stands,"  one  at  each  corner  of  the 
ground  inside  the  circle  of  tents.  These  were  built 
with  four  upright  posts,  supporting  a  platform  about 
four  feet  square.  The  platform  was  covered  with 
earth,  and  on  this  a  bright  fire  of  dry  wood  was  kept 
burning  at  night  during  the  services.  Lighted  in 
this  way,  with  the  blaze  from  the  fire  stands  stream- 
ing up  among  the  branches  of  the  tall  beech  and 
maple  trees,  a  congregation  of  perhaps  one  or  two 
thousand  seated  on  planks  laid  across  log  stringers, 
the  preacher  in  the  stand  at  one  time  in  thunder 
tones  declaring  the  mandates  of  Sinai  and  then  in 
accents  of  sweetest  mercy  pleading  with  sinners  to 
turn  to  God,  the  saints  with  glory  beaming  from 
their  countenances  and  the  heavenly  light  flashing 
from  their  eyes,  ever  and  anon  encouraging  the 
speaker  with  their  glad  responses  of  "Hallelujah" 
and  "Glory  to  God" — all  together,  in  spirit  at  least, 
went  to  make  up  a  scene  akin  to  the  Revelator's 


Early  Free  Methodism  141 

description    of    the    happy,    blood-washed    throng 
around  the  throne. 

Our  services  in  those  days  were  on  the  "old  line" 
of  meekness  and  brotherly  love,  each  esteeming 
others  better  than  himself.  There  was  an  entire 
absence  of  that  denunciatory,  criticising  spirit  which 
in  later  years  crept  in  and  in  some  parts  made  our 
work  a  hissing  and  a  reproach — a  spirit  which  led 
people  to  turn  their  eyes  from  the  pit  of  the  hole 
from  which  they  had  been  digged,  and,  blinding 
them  to  ther  own  frailties  and  weaknesses,  turned 
their  argus  gaze  on  the  infirmities  and  failures  of 
others.  In  Romans  12:  16  the  apostle  says,  "Be  not 
wise  in  your  own  conceits."  It  certainly  is  bad 
enough  for  a  person  to  be  filled  with  conceit,  but 
when  a  person  becomes  "wise  in  his  own  conceits" 
this  is  deplorable  indeed.  I  remember  but  one  in- 
stance in  which  in  those  days  this  spirit  manifested 
itself,  and  that  was  in  the  case  of  a  preacher  who 
came  to  us  from  another  denomination.  He  attended 
one  of  our  Quincy  camp-meetings  and  felt  called  to 
straighten  us  out.  He  went  on  until  he  got  to  red- 
topped  boots  and  hat  bands,  and  I  felt  it  was  time  to 
call  a  halt.  Going  up  into  the  stand,  I  called  the 
attention  of  the  people  to  the  possibility  of  tithing 
the  mint  and  cummin  and  anise  to  the  neglect  of  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law.     I  said,  "Take  for  in- 


142  Reminiscences  of 

stance  the  matter  of  coat  collars,  for  I  see  you  all 
have  collars  to  your  coats.  But,"  I  said,  "some  of 
you  may  say,  'Brother  Hart,  that  is  too  small  a  mat- 
ter.' Is  it?"  I  inquired,  "let  us  see."  Then  I  went 
on  to  make  an  estimate  of  one-quarter  of  a  yard  of 
cloth  in  each  collar — so  many  millions  of  coats — the 
number  of  yards  of  cloth  at  so  much  a  yard  and  the 
amount  at  a  moderate  estimate  was  immense.  "And 
now,"  I  said,  "so  much  for  coat  collars,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  coat  tails."  The  preacher  was  highly  indig- 
nant and  "went  away  in  a  rage."  But  the  next  year 
he  came  back  and  told  us  that  before  he  got  beyond 
the  sound  of  the  meeting  something  said  to  him, 
"You  are  a  fool."  He  made  his  humble  confession 
and  struck  the  "old  line"  of  meekness  and  love. 
Whatever  else  I  may  be  responsible  for,  I  disclaim 
all  responsibility  for  this  egotistical  spirit. 


Early  Free  Methodism  143 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

A  PAPER  has  come  to  my  hand  bringing  to  mind 
incidents  which  might  have  been  presented  sooner, 
but  which  under  the  license  of  digression  may  be 
brought  in  here. 

In  June,  1862,  my  wife  and  myself,  at  the  earnest 
request  of  Brother  Roberts,  went  east  from  Illinois 
and  attended  the  Bergen  camp-meeting,  the  last 
meeting  held  by  our  people  on  the  old  Bergen  camp- 
ground. There  was  a  good  number  of  tents  and  a 
large  attendance.  Here  for  the  first  time  and  only 
time  I  saw  Loren  Stiles  and  Fay  Purdy.  Brother 
Stiles,  as  I  remember  him,  was  a  tall,  spare  man 
with  an  intellectual  cast  of  countenance  and  the  look 
of  an  orator.  He  was  in  poor  health  and  I  did  not 
have  the  privilege  of  hearing  him  preach.  It  was 
evident  that  Purdy  had  lost  his  grip.  He  seemed 
himself  to  realize  this,  to  some  extent  at  least,  for  one 
morning  in  the  love-feast  he  said,  "I  feel  I  need  a 
new  touch,  my  sword  is  getting  rusty."  He  seemed 
quite  anxious  to  get  an  expression  of  Sister  Hart's 
opinion  of  himself,  and  finally  she  said,  "To  speak 
plainly,   I    am   a  good   deal   disappointed   in    you, 


144  Reminiscences  of 

Brother  Purdy.  I  had  heard  so  much  about  your 
power  and  discernment  of  spirit,  I  don't  know 
about  the  sword  getting  rusty.  I  think  before  the 
Lord  will  allow  it  to  become  rusty  he  will  take  it 
away."  He  took  it  well,  but  seemed  considerably 
troubled. 

I  think  Father  Abell  had  the  general  oversight  of 
the  meeting.  The  Nazarite  element  was  pretty 
strongly  represented  and  there  was  a  spirit  of 
restraint  for  fear  of  an  outbreak  of  fanaticism.  Blind 
Henry  was  present.  A  brother  one  day  came  up 
and  speaking  to  him,  said,  "This  is  Brother  Henry, 
the  blind  preacher,  is  it?"  "No,"  was  the  answer,  'T 
am  a  blind  man,  but  thank  God  I  am  not  a  blind 
preacher."  Here  for  the  first  time^  but  not  the  last, 
I  saw  Joseph  McCreery.  He  was  a  peculiar  looking 
man,  his  heavy  eyebrows  overshadowing  small, 
twinkling,  black  eyes  which  seemingly  were  ever  on 
the  lookout  for  the  ludicrous.  The  oratory  of  Stiles 
or  the  inexorable  logic  of  Roberts  were  not  more 
feared  and  dreaded  by  the  Regency  than  was  the 
cutting  sarcasm  of  Joseph  McCreery. 

It  was  a  damp,  dismal  evening  at  the  close  of  a 
cold,  raitiy  day,  when  some  one  came  to  me  and  said 
no  one  was  willing  to  preach  and  asked  if  I  would  try 
it.  I  said  I  would  do  the  best  I  could.  There  were 
no  fires  on  the  fire  stands  and  aside  from  that  which 


Early  Free  Methodism  145 

was  to  emanate  from  the  speaker  we  depended  for 
light  on  two  or  three  tallow  candles  in  the  preachers' 
stand.  As  usual  when  the  circumstances  are  most 
unfavorable  and  we  have  the  least  of  the  help  of  the 
Spirit  the  louder  we  "holler,"  so  for  thirty  minutes 
or  more  I  strained  my  voice  in  trying  to  preach.  At 
the  close  of  my  effort  I  went  to  the  Buffalo  tent 
where  I  was  stopping.  Brother  Roberts  stood  at 
the  entrance  of  the  tent  talking  with  a  man,  and,  as  I 
approached,  said,  "Brother  Hart,  this  is  Brother 
Joseph  McCreery."  "Why,"  I  said,  "Brother 
McCreery,  for  a  long  time  I  have  wanted  to  see  you. 
How  do  you  do?"  Raising  his  shaggy  eyebrows,  he 
looked  at  me  and  said,  "Was  that  you  'hollering*  so 
out  there?"  I  replied,  "Yes,  sir.  I  was  trying  to 
preach."  "Well,"  he  said,  "I  stood  it  as  long  as  I 
could  and  came  away."  Laughingly  I  answered, 
"Well,  I  honor  your  judgment." 

Joseph  and  Benjamin,  these  two  brethren  usually 
called  each  other — these  were  their  given  names. 
Brother  Roberts  inquired,  "Joseph,  why  didn't  you 
come  to  camp-meeting  sooner?"  "Had  to  shear 
my  sheep,"  was  the  reply.  "Sheep?"  said  Brother 
Roberts,  "How  many  sheep  have  you?"  With  all 
seriousness  he  answered,  "One."  Going  into  the 
tent  and  taking  seats  Brother  Roberts  inquired, 
"What  are  you  doing  these  days,  Joseph?  "     Brother 


146  Reminiscences  of 

McCreery  replied,  "I  am  living  at  home  and  we  have 
religion  twice  a  day  at  our  house."  "And  what  are 
you  doing,  Benjamin?"  inquired  McCreery.  With  a 
good  deal  of  earnestness  Brother  Roberts  replied,  "  I 
am  going  through  this  land  for  God  and  salvation 
the  best  I  can."  "That's  right,"  quickly  replied 
McCreery,  "I  tell  you  this  old  pool  of  Methodism 
better  be  stirred  by  a  bullfrog  jumping  into  it  than 
to  remain  stagnant."  But  more  of  this  eccentric 
man  anon. 

James  Vick,  the  noted  seedsman,  and  his  devoted 
wife,  were  at  the  meeting,  and  strongly  urged  Sister 
Hart  to  go  with  them  to  their  home  in  Rochester, 
while  with  Brother  Roberts  and  Travis  I  went  on  to 
another  camp-meeting.  Sister  Hart,  however,  de- 
cided to  go  and  visit  an  aunt  living  at  Attica.  We 
went  on  to  a  meeting  held  at  Union,  New  York. 
Here  we  had  to  encounter  a  tent  of  fanatics  calling 
themselves  Nazarites.  They  kept  pretty  closely  to 
their  tent,  shouting  and  having  the  most  distressing 
manifestations,  only  coming  out  occasionally  to 
berate  and  ridicule  those  of  us  who  were  laboring  in 
the  meeting.  Here  Brother  Roberts  held  a  session 
of  the  Susquehanna  conference. 

From  this  meeting  I  returned  to  Buffalo,  where 
my  wife  met  me.  We  spent  a  day  in  Buffalo,  and 
among  other  places  visited  a  large  Catholic  cathedral. 


Early  Free  Methodism  147 

We  gazed  on  the  paintings  of  the  saints,  but  what 
affected  us  most  was  a  life-size  image  of  Christ  in 
wax.  It  represented  him  as  lying  in  the  tomb.  The 
image  was  so  real  in  appearance  that  our  emotions 
were  greatly  stirred,  when  speaking  to  my  wife  I 
said,  "Martha,  our's  is  a  living  Christ."  Some  rime 
after  at  a  camp-meeting  at  which  Joseph  Terrill  was 
present,  by  way  of  illustration  I  related  the  incident 
which,  it  seems,  made  such  an  impression  on  Brother 
Terrill's  mind  and  heart  that  he  penned  the  follow- 
ing lines  and  sent  them  to  us.  They  have  for  a  long 
rime  been  mislaid,  but,  as  I  stated  at  the  beginning 
of  this  chapter,  having  providentially  come  to  my 
hand  these  recollections  are  the  result. 

A  LIVING  CHRIST. 

BY   JOSEPH  GOODWIN  TERRILL. 

Two  travelers,  a  man  and  wife, 
Were  wandenng  through  cathedral  vast, 
Of  lofty  dome  and  transept  great, 
With  eyes  intently  fixed  on  saints, 
The  creatures  of  a  painter's  skill. 
They  came  at  last  to  molded  form 
Of  Christ  in  wax.     It  lay  in  state, 
Life  size,  beneath  a  vase  of  glass; 
The  face,  the  limbs,  attested  full 
The  artist's  power.     And  as  they  gazed 
The  wax  seemed  flesh,  just  parted  from 
The  soul.    The  print  of  nails  in  palm 
And  foot,  and  print  of  cruel  spear, 
And  wound  of  thorn  upon  the  brow, 


148  Reminiscences  of 

Seemed  fresh  as  done  but  yesterday. 

The  features  fair  bore  trace  of  pain, 

And  agony  extreme,  but  mixed 

With  pity,  as  for  those  for  whom 

All  this  was  borne.     The  posture  of 

The  prostrate  form,  the  silence  of 

The  place,  were  calculated  all 

T*  impress  the  mind  with  solemn  awe 

And  heartfelt  sympathy.     But  few 

Could  gaze  with  critic's  eye  upon 

That  scene,  and  not  lose  sight  of  friends, 

Of  passers-by,  and  all  of  earth, 

In  contemplation  of  the  pious  thought 

Designed.     No  wonder  then,  that  when 

These  Christians  gazed  upon  the  scene. 

The  woman's  heart  was  touched,  and  tears 

Came  gushing  from  her  eyes.    Her  Christ 

Seemed  there,  just  crucified,  for  sins 

Not  of  his  own,  but  of  the  world's. 

The  husband  saw  the  heaving  breast, 

The  trickling  tear,  and  whisp'ring  said, 

"Our's,  Martha,  is  a  living  Christ." 

"Oh,  Edward,  yes;  thank  God!"  she  cried. 

And  dashed  the  tears  away. 

At  the  end  of  the  long  bridge,  just  across  the 
Raisin  river  from  Brother  Atkinson's  was  a  church 
building  known  as  the  "White  church."  It  belonged 
originally,  I  believe,  to  the  Congregationalists,  but 
for  some  years  there  had  been  no  organization  there 
and  no  regular  services.  In  January,  1865,  I  think  it 
was.  Brother  Bishop  and  myself  held  a  series  of 
revival  services  in  this  church.  Sister  Hart  had  a 
short  time  previously  gone  home  to  her  father's  in 


Early  Free  Methodism  149 

Illinois.  Brother  and  Sister  Bishop  and  myself, 
together  with  members  of  our  church  living  along 
the  river,  were  the  laborers  in  the  meeting.  We  had 
large  congregations  and  deep  conviction  was  settling 
down  upon  the  people. 

Near  the  church  lived  one  John  N.  He  had 
formerly  been  a  class-leader  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  but  for  some  years  had  been  a  rabid 
Spiritualist.  He  would  persist  in  speaking  in  the 
meetings,  claiming  to  be  moved  by  the  spirit  of  a 
dead  Indian.  As  this  was  bringing  in  distraction,  as 
he  arose  one  evening  to  speak  I  stopped  him  when, 
with  an  air  of  injured  innocence,  he  inquired,  "Can't 
I  be  allowed  to  speak  in  the  meeting?"  I  replied, "If 
you  want  to  come  forward  and  confess  your  sins  and 
get  saved  you  can  do  so,  but  we  will  have  none  of 
your  dead  Indian  talk  here,  for,"  I  added,  "Spirit- 
ualism is  all  of  the  devil."  He  at  once  spoke  up  and 
said,  "  Will  you  give  us  a  sermon  on  the  subject,  sir?  " 
Without  taking  a  second  thought,  I  at  once  replied, 
"Yes,  sir,  by  the  grace  of  God  the  subject  for  to-mor- 
row night  will  be,  'Spiritualism  gone  to  seed.'  "  At  the 
close  of  the  service,  as  we  passed  out  of  the  church, 
the  man  said  to  me,  "Give  us  a  good  one,  Mr.  Hart." 
I  answered,  "I  will  do  the  best  I  can,  Mr.  N." 
Having  thus  publicly  committed  myself,  the  con- 
sciousness of  responsibility  drove  me  to  my  Bible 


1^0  Reminiscences  of 

and  to  my  knees.  I  slept  but  little  that  night  and 
spent  the  following  day  in  fasting,  prayer  and  dili- 
gent searching  of  the  word. 

That  night  the  church  was  packed.  For  a  text  I 
announced  the  following  words:  "And  when  they 
shall  say  unto  you,  Seek  unto  them  that  have  familiar 
spirits  and  unto  wizards  that  peep  and  that  mutter: 
should  not  a  people  seek  unto  their  God?  for  the 
living  to  the  dead?  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony: 
if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because 
there  is  no  light  in  them."  Isa.  8:  19,  20.  I  spoke  first 
of  the  difficulty  in  combating  error,  as  it  consists 
largely  in  a  denial  of  truth,  and  as  it  is  not  committed 
to  any  definite  and  positive  line  it  is  much  like  a  fox 
in  a  field,  when  cornered  in  one  it  jumps  the  fence 
into  another.  I  then  divided  Spiritualists  into  two 
classes,  those  who  do  and  those  who  do  not  profess 
belief  in  the  Bible.  Both  classes  were  in  that  part 
of  the  state,  for  in  a  gathering  not  long  before  this 
the  anti-Bible  class  had  denounced  the  word  of  God 
and  thrown  it  down  on  the  floor  and  publicly  stamped 
upon  it.  But  this  man  N.  claimed  to  believe  in 
the  Bible,  and  that  it  taught  Spiritualism.  So  I  said, 
"With  those  who  denounce  the  Bible  I  have  no  con- 
troversy to-night  but  shall  deal  entirely  with  those 
who  claim  to  believe  in  it."  "To  the  law  and  to  the 
testimony,  if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word  it 


Early  Free  Methodism  151 

Is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them."  I  had  made  a 
note  of  every  passage  from  beginning  to  end  in  the 
Bible  which  spoke  of  wizards,  necromancers,  witches, 
evil  spirits  and  demons.  I  read  and  commented  on 
these  passages,  showing  that  God  invariably  pro- 
nounced a  curse  upon  them. 

For  once  at  least  I  was  master  of  the  situation. 
God  endorsed  the  truth,  the  Spirit  broke  on  the  con- 
gregation and  a  crowd  rushed  to  the  altar,  among 
the  number  a  daughter  of  Mr.  N.,  who  came 
literally  screaming  down  the  aisle.  Sister  Hart,  a 
short  time  before,  at  her  father's  in  Illinois,  dreamed 
of  our  meeting  and  thought  she  saw  a  huge  serpent 
writhing  around  among  us,  and  that  finally  Brother 
Bishop  and  myself  got  it  cornered  and  killed  it. 
Whether  there  was  anything  in  the  dream  or  not,  it 
is  certain  that  the  slimy  snake  of  Spiritism  was  throt- 
tled in  that  community.  The  meeting  went  on  in 
power  and  a  fine  class  was  organized  at  the  White 
church.  A  few  weeks  after  the  close  of  the  meeting  I 
went  on  to  Illinois,  and  during  the  month  of  March 
assisted  in  revival  services  at  Aurora.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  22nd,  just  as  I  was  about  to  start  for  meet- 
ing, a  telegram  from  Marengo  was  handed  me,  and 
on  opening  it  I  read  this  brief  but  significant  dis- 
patch, "Girl— all  doing  well."  So  a  bright,  black- 
eyed  daughter  was  added  to  our  family  circle. 


152  Reminiscences  of 

Not  long  after,  I  returned  to  Michigan  and 
labored  until  the  Saint  Charles  camp-meeting,  in 
June,  which  my  wife  and  I  attended,  and  soon  after 
with  our  babies  went  back  to  Michigan.  We  arranged 
to  start  for  Michigan  on  a  certain  train,  but  there 
came  up  a  terrific  thunder-storm,  and,  thoroughly 
drenched,  we  reached  the  depot  just  in  time  to  see 
the  train  move  off.  We  returned  to  Father  Bishop's 
and  waited  for  the  night  train,  which  we  succeeded 
in  reaching.  We  passed  through  Chicago,  when  I 
discovered  I  was  short  of  funds,  but  as  the  train 
stopped  at  a  station  in  Michigan  a  lady  of  our  ac- 
quaintance came  aboard,  and  spying  us  came  up  and 
put  a  five  dollar  bill  in  my  hand.  So  we  understood 
the  providence  by  which  we  missed  the  train,  and 
thanked  God  and  took  courage. 

We  labored  through  the  remainder  of  the  summer 
and  went  back  to  the  session  of  the  Illinois  confer- 
ence held  at  Marengo,  September  13-18,  1865.  I  was 
again  elected  secretary,  with  T.  S.  La  Due  as  assist- 
ant. As  lay  delegates  from  the  Michigan  conference 
this  year  we  had  L.  T.  Frink  and  John  Ellison  to 
represent  the  work.  These  brethren  were  received 
into  the  conference  on  trial,  and  H.  L.  Jones  and  W. 
D.  Bishop  were  continued.  We  reported  from  Mich- 
igan about  two  hundred  in  full  connection  and  on 
probation.     The  appointments   for   this  year  read: 


Early  Free  Methodism  153 

"Michigan  and  Indiana  district,  E.  P.  Hart,  chair- 
man; Huron,  H.L  Jones;  Raisinville,  Lemuel  Frink; 
Morenci,  to  be  supplied;  Van  Buren.  to  be  supplied; 
Ransom,  W.  D.  Bishop;  Coldwater,  John  Ellison." 
So  I  had  six  appointments  on  my  district.  I  held 
the  quarterly  meetings  on  these  and  labored  in  rais- 
ing up  new  circuits.  During  the  winter  our  work 
extended  over  into  Ohio  and  Indiana. 

In  the  fall  of  1865  we  received  a  call  from  two 
brethren  living  near  Morenci,  Lenawee  county, 
Michigan,  to  come  and  hold  meetings.  We  sent  for 
our  household  goods  which  to  this  time  had  been 
left  in  Illinois.  We  had  them  shipped  to  Clayton, 
the  nearest  railroad  station,  and  went  on  to  settle 
down  in  that  part  of  the  state  for  the  winter  and  try 
to  open  up  the  work.  We  found  that  Brothers 
Osgood  and  Goss  had  secured  a  large  farm  house 
two  or  three  miles  west  of  Morenci  in  which  we  were 
to  live.  We  moved  in  our  goods  and  found  our- 
selves very  comfortably  situated,  only  that  we  had 
no  very  near  neighbors,  the  nearest  one  being  a 
partially  insane  man,  bearing  the  reputation  of  a  bad 
and  dangerous  character.  As  I  had  to  be  away 
from  home  a  good  deal  on  the  district  this  made  it 
unpleasant  for  Sister  Hart  with  her  two  small  chil- 
dren. Anticipating  this  we  had  secured  Florence 
Plues,  one  of  the  twin  girls  saved  in  our  meeting 


154  Reminiscences  of 

in  the  Plues  schoolhouse,  to  go  and  live  with  us  as 
companion  for  Sister  Hart.  But  Florence  never 
before  having  been  away  from  home  was  severely 
attacked  with  that  unpleasant  and  distressing  disease 
called  home-sickness  and  we  were  obliged  to  allow 
her  to  return  home,  so  Sister  Hart  had  to  take  on 
courage  and,  trusting  in  the  Lord,  stay  alone  with 
the  children  during  my  absence. 

Brothers  Osgood  and  Goss  were  strongly  opposed 
to  Masonry  and  there  was  a  strong  anti-Masonic 
sentiment  in  the  community  generally.  But  with 
exceptions  of  these  two  brethren  and  a  Brother  Reid 
living  in  another  neighborhood  there  was  little  pre- 
tension to  piety.  When  we  were  fairly  settled  a 
"bee"  was  announced  and  men  from  that  and  adjoin- 
ing neighborhoods  came  together  and  with  a  horse- 
power saw  prepared  beech  and  maple  stove-wood 
sufficient  for  the  winter.  But  this  zeal,  being  be- 
gotten by  a  partisan  spirit  while  quite  acceptable 
and  helpful  for  a  supply  of  fuel  for  the  winter,  did 
not  contribute  especially  to  the  spiritual  interests  of 
the  work.  During  the  time  I  could  spare  from  my 
district  work  I  went  out  through  the  country  looking 
up  appointments.  Grandpa  Goss,  as  he  was  famil- 
iarly known,  had  a  white  horse  and  light  democrat 
wagon  which  were  placed  at  my  disposal,  and  with 
this  rig  I  went  out  looking  for  "openings."    A  few 


Early  Free  Methodism  155 

miles  from  our  home  I  found  a  vacant  Presbyterian 
church  and  looking  up  one  of  the  elders  arranged 
for  stated  appointments.  At  our  first  appointment 
we  found  the  choir  in  the  gallery  ready  with  the  organ 
to  bear  some  humble  part  in  the  exercises.  I  an- 
nounced my  hymns  and  they  lead  off  seemingly 
under  the  supposition  that  they  were  conferring  a 
great  favor  upon  the  new  preacher.  I  allowed  it 
to  pass  for  that  time,  but  at  our  next  service  I  gave 
out  my  opening  hymn  and  saying,  "Let  all  join 
in  the  singing,"  I  lead  off  myself.  The  people 
seemed  well  pleased  to  have  congregational  sing- 
ing, but  the  choir  were  very  indignant  and  ever 
after  took  their  seats  in  the  body  of  the  church 
and  stoutly  refused  to  take  any  part.  I  preached 
at  this  church  for  some  time,  but  finding  more 
promising  openings  finally  canceled  my  appoint- 
ments. Something  of  an  interest  being  awakened 
the  "elder"  concluding  it  would  be  a  good  time 
to  revive  their  services,  went  around  to  see  what 
the  people  would  contribute  to  the  support  of  a 
regular  pastor,  and  nearly  all  assured  him  they  would 
assist  provided  we  would  secure  the  man  who  had 
been  preaching  there  of  late.  The  elder  came  to  me 
and  proposed  to  engage  me  as  regular  pastor,  but  I 
informed  the  good  brother  that  my  time  was  so  fully 
occupied  I  could  not  take  the  position.    I  got  an 


156  Reminiscences  of 

appointment  in  a  schoolhouse  about  three  miles 
east  of  Morenci,  where  a  people  calling  themselves 
Christians  had  a  society  and  a  regular  service.  I 
called  the  place  a  Campbellite  swamp.  I  preached 
there  a  few  times  when  the  Campbellite  preacher 
came  around  and  in  preaching  said,  "The  Holy- 
Ghost,  what  kind  of  a  ghost  is  that?"  "It  is,"  said 
he  "a  spooky,  scary  thing."  These  people  at  first 
treated  our  meetings  with  the  utmost  contempt. 
Someone  of  them  sent  me  a  note  requesting  me  to 
preach  from  one  of  two  texts.  One  of  the  texts 
called  for  a  verse  from  a  chapter  in  John  not  having 
as  many  verses  as  the  number  of  the  one  called  for. 
The  other  text  read  as  follows,  "Then  Peter  said 
unto  them.  Repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of 
you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission  of 
sins  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost" 
(Acts  2:  38).  At  the  appointment  the  next  evening 
I  read  the  note  requesting  me  to  preach  from  one  of 
two  texts,  and  then  said,  "As  there  are  not  as  many 
verses  in  the  chapter  of  John  as  the  note  calls  for,  it 
is  Hobson's  choice  with  me,  and  I  must  use  the  other 
text  or  none."  I  said,  "In  considering  this  text  in 
Acts  2:  38  there  are  three  things  mentioned,  namely, 
'Repentance,'  'Baptism'  and  the  'gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.'  "  "Now,"  I  said,  "If  any  one  of  these  is  of 
less  importance  than  the  other  that  one  is  baptism, 


Early  Free  Methodism  157 

but  there  is  a  certain  class  of  so-called  disciples  who 
jump  over  repentance  into  some  goose  pond  in  so- 
called  baptism  and  wholly  ignore  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  but  to-night,"  I  said,  "we  will  start  in 
with  repentance  and  if  time  permits  consider  the 
other  parts  of  the  text  also."  They  were  greatly 
stirred  and  some  went  out  in  a  rage.  As  they  passed 
out  I  said,  "That's  right,  as  fast  as  you  are  dressed 
up  you  can  pass  out,  for  by  the  grace  of  God  I  pre- 
pose  to  cut  garments  for  you  all  to-night."  The 
Lord  endorsed  the  truth  and  many  were  brought 
under  conviction.  The  Lord  came  in  saving  power 
and  these  people  v/ere  at  least  whipped  into  respect 
for  after  the  services  nights  we  could  hear  them 
saying  among  themselves,  "Well,  I  didn't  ridicule 
the  Holy  Ghost." 

We  finally  appointed  a  watch-night  service  for 
New  Year's  eve.  Brother  W.  D.  Bishop  and  wife 
came  from  the  Ransom  circuit,  where  he  was  preach- 
ing, to  assist  in  the  meeting.  Brother  Bishop  and 
myself  had  gone  on  to  the  neighborhood  where  the 
watch  service  was  to  be  held,  and  Grandpa  Goss 
with  "Jim",  the  old  white  horse,  and  the  democrat 
wagon  went  to  our  house  to  bring  Sister  Bishop,  my 
wife  and  our  two  children.  Sister  Hart  with  the 
baby  in  her  arms  sat  with  Grandpa  Goss  on  the 
spring  seat  in  front,  while  Sister  Bishop  with  the 


158  Reminiscences  of 

other  child  seated  on  a  board  across  the  wagon-box 
realized  the  benefit  of  the  spring  of  the  rear  axletree. 
By  dark  the  people  came  streaming  in  from  all 
directions,  and  long  before  the  hour  for  the  service 
to  begin  the  house  was  crowded.  Sister  Hart  made 
a  bed  for  the  children  on  the  desks,  and  we  com- 
menced our  meeting.  Aside  from  two  or  three  who 
might  pray  or  speak,  Brother  and  Sister  Bishop  and 
my  wife  and  myself  were  the  only  ones  to  carry  on 
the  meeting,  but  the  good  Lord  came  by  his  Spirit, 
and  with  a  sermon  by  Brother  Bishop  and  two  by 
myself  and  prayers  and  testimonies  of  our  wives  and 
others  the  time  was  fully  occupied,  and  instead  of 
silent  prayer  at  the  midnight  hour  we  had  a  penitent 
form  filled  with  earnest  seekers. 

Early  in  the  spring,  as  I  was  so  far  from  the 
main  part  of  our  work  and  as  the  brethren  were 
anxious  to  have  us  more  centrally  located,  we  con- 
cluded we  had  better  remove  to  Monroe  county. 
Sending  word  to  the  brethren  that  we  were  ready  to 
come,  Brother  Jonathan  Atkinson,  a  son  of  Brother 
Plues,  and  a  son  of  Brother  Jones,  each  with  a  team 
came  to  take  our  goods  to  Raisinville.  The  night 
they  reached  our  house  there  came  a  heavy  fall  of 
snow,  and  it  looked  as  though  they  were  storm- 
bound, but  by  the  exercise  of  a  little  inventive 
genius  they  soon  improvised  pole-sleds,  and  piling 


Early  Free  Methodism  159 

wagons  and  goods  on  to  these  made  a  successful 
trip  of  nearly  fifty  miles  through  the  drifts.  Grandpa 
Goss  took  me  and  wife  and  the  two  children  to 
Clayton  to  take  the  train.  Just  as  he  left  us  at  the 
station  he  slipped  a  five  dollar  bill  into  my  hand. 
The  train  was  several  hours  late,  and  when  it  did 
arrive  the  conductor  gruffly  informed  us  that  we 
could  not  get  through  to  Ida  that  night;  but  decid- 
ing to  go  as  far  as  we  could,  we  boarded  the  train 
and  went  on  to  Adrian,  to  find  that  our  train  for  Ida 
had  already  gone.  I  now  found  use  for  the  money 
Brother  Goss  had  given  me,  and  going  to  a  hotel 
near  the  station  succeeded  in  securing  a  warm  room. 
So  severe  was  the  storm  that  no  train  left  Adrian 
until  4  p.  m.  the  following  day.  We  finally  reached 
our  destination  in  safety  and  moved  into  a  parsonage 
near  the  White  church  in  Raisinville  which  the 
brethren  had  bought,  the  first  Free  Methodist  par- 
sonage in  Michigan.  While  living  here  our  larder 
became  exceeding  low  and  we  hardly  knew  how  we 
were  to  get  along,  but  one  day  we  received  a  letter, 
and  on  opening  it  a  five  dollar  bill  fell  out,  and  from 
the  letter  we  read,  "From  a  friend  to  help  roll  the 
old  chariot  along."  Funds  kept  coming  in,  so  we 
were  soon  prepared  to  meet  the  extra  expense  of  our 
coming  camp-meeting. 


i6o  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  XV. 

In  June,  1866,  we  held  a  camp-meeting  in  a  grove 
near  the  Raisin  river,  just  a  short  distance  above 
Brother  Atkinson's.  This  was  a  remarkable  meet- 
ing. It  proved  to  be  the  means  of  advertising  our 
work  pretty  much  through  the  entire  state.  Report- 
ers came  up  from  Monroe.  The  reporter  for  the 
Republican  paper  gave  a  most  ridiculous  account  of 
the  exercises.  He  said  that  the  people  cut  the 
pigeon  wing  and  danced  Jim  Crow,  and  that  the 
meeting  was  a  perfect  pandemonium.  The  Demo- 
crat paper  took  it  up  and  said  if  it  was  a  pandemo- 
nium it  was  such  a  pandemonium  as  they  had  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  and  further  expressed  surprise  that 
a  Republican  paper  should  come  out  against  these 
people,  for  if  the  Free  Methodist  preachers  in  the 
state  of  Michigan  should  leave  the  Republican  party 
that  party  would  be  in  a  hopeless  minority.  This 
statement  was  the  more  remarkable  as  at  that  time 
our  preachers  did  not  number  more  than  a  half 
dozen.  But  this  all  tended  to  awaken  curiosity,  and 
we  received  calls  from  all  directions  to  come  and 
labor. 


Early  Free  Methodism  l6l 

The  Michigan  conference  was  organized  June  22, 
1866,  in  connection  with  the  camp-meeting  held  on 
the  Raisin  river.  The  conference  was  organized  in 
a  brick  schoolhouse  near  the  camp-ground.  Brother 
Roberts  was  present  and  presided.  I  was  elected 
secretary.  The  following  preachers  were  received 
into  full  connection  from  the  Illinois  conference: 
H.  L.  Jones,  C.  S.  Gitchell,  W.  D.  Bishop  and  E.  P. 
Hart.  John  Ellison  and  L.  T.  Frink  were  received 
from  the  Illinois  conference,  with  credit  for  one  year 
on  trial  in  that  conference. 

Six  preachers  were  received  on  trial;  of  this  num- 
ber were  three  brothers  by  the  name  of  Riley.  They 
were  men  of  some  preaching  ability  and  labored 
quite  acceptably,  especially  William,  who  opened  up 
the  work  at  Moreville  and  other  points.  During  the 
summer  one  of  them  got  into  difficulty  with  the 
United  States  custom  house  at  Detroit,  and  was  ex- 
pelled. The  others,  out  of  sympathy  with  their 
brother,  withdrew.  Living  a  few  miles  from  More- 
ville was  an  old  English  couple  by  the  name  of  East. 
They  had  belonged  with  the  Ranters  in  England. 
Their  son  attended  William  Riley's  meeting,  and 
went  home  and  reported  that  the  Ranters  had  come. 
The  old  people  were  not  slow  in  getting  to  the  ser- 
vices. They  were  so  overjoyed  they  could  not  re- 
frain from  giving  audible  expression  to  their  feelings 


l62  Reminiscences  of 

of  delight.  These  old  people  stood  by  the  work  till 
death  called  them  to  their  reward.  Their  children 
were  converted,  a  church  was  built  at  Moreville,  also 
one  in  the  East  neighborhood,  and  several  strong 
circuits  raised  up  in  that  section.  William,  the 
eldest  son,  who  first  reported  the  meeting  to  his 
parents,  remained  a  true  man  of  God  to  his  death, 
which  took  place  recently  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
state. 

We  had  a  short  conference  year,  but  during  the 
time  the  first  Free  Methodist  church  in  Michigan 
was  built,  at  Sherwood,  Branch  county,  under  the 
labors  of  Rev.  John  Ellison.  Brother  and  Sister 
Frink  had  a  successful  term  on  the  Huron  circuit. 
One  year,  while  Brother  Bishop  was  preaching  on 
the  Huron  work,  in  quite  a  remarkably  providential 
manner  he  received  needed  financial  help.  They 
had  bought  a  new  stove,  but  were  obliged  to  run  in 
debt  to  the  amount  of  six  or  seven  dollars.  They 
had  managed  to  get  a  dollar  or  two  ahead,  andstarted 
to  drive  to  Detroit  and  make  a  payment.  Out  in  the 
field,  as  they  were  driving  along,  they  saw  a  large, 
strange-looking  bird.  Brother  Bishop  siezed  the 
blanket  and  halter,  and  running  towards  the  bird  saw 
that  it  was  a  huge  eagle.  As  though  held  by  a  spell, 
the  eagle  stood  perfectly  still,  and  Brother  Bishop, 
throwing  the  blanket  over  its  head,  soon  had  it  cap- 


Early  Free  Methodism  163 

tive.  With  the  halter  he  bound  it  in  the  back  of  his 
buggy  and  went  on  to  Detroit.  Showing  the  bird 
there,  a  man  who  kept  a  meat-market  became  quite 
anxious  to  purchase  it,  and  finally  offered  seven  dol- 
lars, which  offer  was  readily  accepted,  and  Brother 
Bishop  went  in  and  paid  the  balance  due  on  his 
stove.  The  bird  had  been  caught  so  easily,  the  mar- 
ket man  concluded  it  could  not  fly,  so  taking  it  out 
one  day  he  let  it  stand  unbound,  when  stretching 
out  its  great  wings  it  soared  toward  the  sun — but  the 
purpose  had  been  fulfilled,  the  preacher's  necessities 
had  been  met. 

The  work  extended  along  what  was  known  as  the 
Ridge  Road,  in  Monroe  and  Lenawee  counties.  In 
the  East  neighborhood  was  a  family  by  the  name  of 
Gray.  The  old  gentleman  took  a  decided  stand.  He 
was  a  highly  intellectual  man  and  carried  a  strong 
influence  for  the  right.  Sister  Eunice  Gray,  his  son's 
wife,  fell  into  line  and,  although  her  husband  made 
no  profession,  their  large  farmhouse  has  ever  been  a 
pilgrim  home.  Of  late  they  have  spent  the  winters 
in  Florida,  and  since  this  series  of  articles  was  com- 
menced Sister  Gray  has  written  Sister  Hart  and 
myself  of  the  hallowed  recollections  of  those  days  of 
blessing  of  thirty-five  years  ago. 

The  second  session  of  our  conference  was  held  in 
the  new  church,  at  Sherwood,  Branch  county,  giving 


164  Reminiscences  of 

a  conference  year  of  six  months.  Brother  Joseph 
Travis  presided.  He  also  preached  the  dedicatory 
sermon.  It  was  a  remarkable  one  from  the  text, 
"The  glory  of  this  latter  house  shall  be  greater  than 
the  former,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts;  and  in  this  place 
will  I  give  peace,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts"  (Hag.  2: 
9).  Our  membership  at  this  session  numbered  four 
hundred  and  eighty-two.  I  was  again  elected  chair- 
man, and  had  a  district  of  nine  circuits.  Brothers 
Frink  and  Ellison  were  received  into  full  connec- 
tion. I  was  elected  ministerial  and  John  Plues  lay 
delegate  to  the  second  session  of  the  general  confer- 
ence, which  convened  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  Wednes- 
day, October  10,  1866.  After  the  first  Sabbath,  the 
conference  adjourned  to  Albion.  The  Michigan 
conference  had  but  two  delegates,  but  with  the  help 
of  Brother  Plues  we  made  noise  and  stir  enough  for 
half  a  dozen.  I  remember  one  evening  in  Buffalo, 
when  Brother  Plues  got  blessed,  and  hooted  and 
yelled  in  his  characteristic  way,  the  police  came 
rushing  in,  seemingly  supposing  that  some  one  was 
being  murdered,  but  they  soon  took  in  the  situation 
and  passed  out  leaving  us  alone  in  our  glory. 

Joseph  McCreery  had  settled  on  a  small  farm  in 
Van  Buren  county,  Michigan.  He  attended  one  of 
our  camp-meetings,  held  at  Quincy,  and  there  pub- 
licly acknowledged  that  he  had  made  a  mistake  in 


Early  Free  Methodism  165 

opposing  the  organization  of  the  Free  Methodist 
church,  and,  turning  to  Brother  Roberts,  who  was 
present,  said,  "  Brother  Roberts,  you  were  wiser  than 
I."  He  sold  out  in  Michigan,  and  in  the  fall  of  1865, 
united  with  the  Illinois  conference  and  was  appointed 
to  Marengo.  I  remember  that  Brother  Terrill  pre- 
sented the  name  of  C.  H.  Lovejoy,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  in  Kansas,  for  reception  into  the 
conference.  Brother  Lovejoy  was  not  present,  but 
Brother  Terrill  had  his  picture  and  passed  that 
around  among  the  members  of  the  conference. 
Brother  Lovejoy  was  received.  The  name  of  Joseph 
McCreery  was  then  presented,  and  Brother  Roberts 
inquired  whether  he  wished  to  say  anything  to  the 
conference,  when  he  arose,  and,  raising  his  eyebrows, 
said,  "Brethren,  I  haven't  any  picture,  but  you  can 
look  at  me." 

In  1866  Brother  McCreery  was  one  of  the  minis- 
terial delegates  from  the  Illinois  conference  to  the 
general  conference  which  met  at  Buffalo  of  which  I 
have  already  spoken.  I  learned  that  he  was  advo- 
cating the  election  of  two  superintendents  and  sug- 
gesting my  name  for  the  second  one.  I  hunted  him 
up  and  protested  against  any  such  action  and  finally 
said,  "  Brother  McCreery,  I  don't  like  such  work  in  a 
general  conference,  it  looks  too  much  like  log-roll- 
ing."    His  reply  was,  "  I  don't  know  who  has  a  better 


i66  Reminiscences  of 

right  to  roll  the  log  than  the  man  who  cut  down  the 
tree."  After  some  years  Brother  McCreery  dropped 
our  of  the  traveling  connection  and  went  out  to 
Nebraska  where  he  took  up  a  claim  and  for  a  time, 
no  doubt,  was  sadly  down  in  his  experience.  He 
finally  sold  out  and  went  to  live  with  his  youngest 
daughter  in  California.  He  got  blessed  in  his  soul 
and  the  residue  of  his  days  were  spent  in  loving 
obedience  to  God. 

The  last  characteristic  speech  I  heard  him  make 
was  at  the  last  session  of  the  California  conference 
held  by  Brother  Roberts.  Towards  the  close  of  the 
session  he  arose  and  spoke  in  substance  as  follows: 
"When  I  was  a  little  boy  I  lived  on  the  farm  with 
my  grandfather.  They  had  a  hired  girl  by  the  name 
of  Peggy.  Grandfather  and  Uncle  John  would  go 
over  the  hill  to  work,  and  when  Peggy  had  dinner 
about  ready  she  would  take  a  great  conch-shell  and 
give  a  tremendous  blast  to  call  grandfather  and 
Uncle  John  to  dinner.  They  had  a  little  yellow  dog, 
and  when  Peggy  would  give  a  blast  on  the  conch- 
shell  the  little  yellow  dog  would  whine  and  cry  and 
lie  down  and  roll  over  and  take  on  fearfully.  Finally 
someone  told  Peggy  to  put  some  soft  soap  in  the 
conch-shell  and  then  when  she  blew  on  it  the  yellow 
dog  wouldn't  take  on  so.  The  next  time  Peggy 
went  to  blow  on  the  conch-shell  she  put  in  some  soft 


Early  Free  Methodism  167 

soap  and  blew  a  great  blubber.  The  yellow  dog 
didn't  whine  or  cry,  but  grandfather  and  Uncle  John 
didn't  come  to  dinner.  "Now,"  said  he,  "boys, 
whatever  you  do  don't  put  any  soft  soap  in  the  gospel 
horn ;  let  the  yellow  dogs  howl,  but  have  the  trumpet 
give  the  certain  sound."  The  old  brother  before  the 
close  of  that  conference  session  to  a  great  extent  lost 
his  mind.  In  a  few  months  he  went  east  to  live  with 
his  son  at  Elgin,  Illinois,  where  he  closed  his  eyes  in 
peace  and  went  to  his  eternal  reward. 

So  these  men  who,  by  a  heaven-quickened  spir- 
itual intuition,  felt  and  saw  the  oncoming  flood  of 
worldliness,  and  by  the  help  of  God  were  enabled  to 
raise  up  a  standard  against  it,  one  by  one  are  passing 
away,  and  it  now  devolves  on  us  who  are  coming  to 
the  front,  in  love  and  meekness  to  maintain  the  prin- 
ciples of  righteousness  to  which  they  consecrated 
their  powers  and  in  defense  of  which  they  stood 
while  they  lived. 


i68  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  winter  of  1866-67  we  labored  at  Windsor,  a 
small  burg  out  about  six  miles  from  Mansfield,  Rich- 
land county,  Ohio.  Our  children  were  with  their 
grandparents  in  Illinois.  Our  congregations  were 
large,  the  people  coming  in  from  the  country  around. 
A  number  were  saved.  We  made  our  home  most  of 
the  time  with  a  family  by  the  name  of  Garrison.  The 
old  people  were  sav  ed  in  the  early  part  of  the  meet- 
ing. A  man  and  wife  by  the  name  of  Nyman  living 
in  the  same  neighborhood,  who  claimed  to  be  strong 
Universalists,  were  brought  under  conviction.  By 
invitation  we  went  to  their  house,  and  nearly  all  the 
night  could  hear  Mrs.  Nyman  sobbing  and  groaning 
on  account  of  her  sins.  They  were  clearly  converted 
and  became  strong  members. 

We  had  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Ash  preach- 
ing on  the  work.  He  was  a  son  of  Uncle  Arby  Ash, 
who  lived  on  the  Huron  work  in  Michigan.  This 
young  man  in  giving  notice  of  our  coming  had  given 
occasion  for  a  great  many  humorous  remarks,  for  he 
had  repeatedly  advertised  me  as  a  "big  gun"  from 
Michigan.     One  man  in  an  article  in  a  local  paper 


Early  Free  Methodism  169 

intimated  that,  in  the  words  of  Artemus  Ward,  "there 
might  be  danger  of  busting  the  gun."  But  this  all 
tended  to  awaken  curiosity,  so  on  our  advent  we 
were  greeted  by  large  congregations.  Sisters  Hout 
and  Fleming,  together  with  Sister  Anna  Kaufman 
and  a  younger  Sister  Hout,  and  several  others  whose 
names  I  do  not  now  recall,  were  of  great  help  in  the 
meetings.  Mr.  Hout  and  Mr.  Fleming,  the  husbands 
of  the  sisters  mentioned  before,  made  no  profession 
of  religion,  and  while  they  would  occasionally  in- 
dulge in  a  social  glass,  they  were  very  respectful  and 
always  ready  to  assist  their  families  in  getting  to  the 
services.  A  well-to-do  and  highly  respectable  fam- 
ily by  the  name  of  Mason  lived  near  by.  The  old 
gentleman  was  a  class-leader  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church  on  the  hill.  He  took  quite  an  interest 
in  the  meeting  at  our  church.  We  were  invited  to 
their  home  to  dinner  one  day,  when  Father  Mason 
told  us  of  his  son  James,  who  since  his  return  from 
the  army  had  become  quite  reckless,  and  requested 
us  to  talk  with  him,  as  he  was  regular  in  his  attend- 
ance at  our  services.  We  took  occasion  to  speak  to 
James  about  the  salvation  of  his  soul,  and  to  our 
surprise  he  flew  into  a  passion  and  said  he  wanted 
nothing  to  do  with  religion.  We  expressed  our  sur- 
prise and  remonstrated  with  him,  when  cooling  down 
a  little  he  said,  "Of  course,  real  religion  is  all  right,  but 


170  Reminiscences  of 

there  is  my  father;  he  has  been  a  class-leader  for 
years,  and  he  will  ask  the  blessing  at  the  table  and 
have  family  worship  and  get  mad  before  he  gets  out 
of  the  house."  We  said  nothing  more  to  James  at 
that  time,  but  spoke  with  the  old  gentleman,  giving 
him  the  status  of  the  case.  The  next  morning  as  the 
family  gathered  for  prayers  the  old  gentleman  got 
out  the  Bible,  but  before  reading  he  broke  down  and 
asked  forgiveness,  and  they  had  a  new  prayer  and 
season  of  real  devotion  for  once  at  least.  At  the 
service  that  evening  James  made  his  way  to  the  altar 
and  began  to  earnestly  seek  the  Lord.  I  presume 
that  James,  under  the  convicting  power  of  the  Spirit, 
was  somewhat  irritated  and  undoubtedly  a  little 
severe  in  his  judgment  of  the  old  gentleman. 

On  Christmas  we  had  a  grand  day;  the  Holy 
Spirit  came  in  power,  but  at  the  evening  service  we 
had  a  little  scene  not  down  on  the  program.  Mr. 
Hout  and  Mr.  Fleming  had  been  down  to  Mansfield, 
and  having  imbibed  pretty  freely  came  back  in  time 
for  evening  meeting,  both  a  good  deal  under  the 
influence  of  liquor.  When  an  invitation  for  seekers 
was  given  both  of  these  men  made  their  way  to  the 
penitent  form.  All  in  the  house  knew  the  condition 
they  were  in,  and  the  entire  congregation  was  as 
solemn  as  eternity.  Their  wives  came  forward  weep- 
ing and  we  gathered  for  prayer.     I   went   to   Mr. 


Early  Free  Methodism  171 

Fleming  to  talk  to  him,  but  he  being  beyond  all  self- 
control  cried  out,  "Oh,  I  am  all  right:  go  and  talk  to 
my  friend  Hout."  I  went  and  knelt  by  Mr.  Hout. 
He  seemed  to  realize  his  condition,  and  I  said,  "Mr. 
Hout,  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  in  this  condition."  He 
began  to  weep  and  said,  "Mr.  Hart,  it  is  too  bad; 
pray  for  me."  We  had  a  season  of  prayer,  when  an 
opportunity  being  given  to  speak,  Mr.  Fleming 
jumped  up  and  going  to  James  Mason  slapped  him 
on  the  sholder  and  cried  out,  "Hip,  hip,  Jim,  we  are 
going  through  with  flying  colors."  The  service 
closed  with  the  families  of  these  men  in  tears  and  a 
feeling  of  regret  and  solemn  awe  upon  the  congrega- 
tion. At  the  meeting  the  next  afternoon  both  men 
were  present  and  very  humbly  apologized  and  asked 
the  prayers  of  God's  people.  Allan  Haverfield  and 
wife,  holiness  people,  came  to  us  from  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  also  a  local  preacher  by  the  name 
of  Oswald,  and  we  had  a  strong  society,  which  at 
different  times  has  been  served  by  the  most  able 
men  of  our  conference. 

In  the  early  spring  I  received  an  urgent  request 
to  go  to  the  Huron  circuit  and  attend  the  funeral  of  a 
Brother  McFarland,  an  old  man  some  ninety  years 
of  age.  His  son,  Walter  McFarland,  was  a  leading 
layman  on  that  work.  This  old  gentleman  was  a 
Scotchman,  and  for  years  had  been  a  devoted  man  of 


172  Reminiscences  of 

God.  Sister  Hart  remained  to  help  in  the  work  at 
Windsor,  while  I  went  north.  Brother  Bishop,  who 
was  on  the  Huron  work  that  year,  took  me  with  his 
conveyance  to  Plymouth,  where  the  funeral  services 
were  held.  It  was  a  warm  and  very  wet  spring,  and 
we  had  quite  an  adventurous  trip  crossing  swollen 
streams,  etc.  On  our  return  I  concluded  to  send  for 
my  wife  and  spend  some  time  in  meetings  on  the 
Huron  circuit.  Sister  Hart  made  the  journey  with 
great  difficulty.  All  around  the  depot  at  Toledo  the 
tracks  were  under  water  and  trains  had  to  stop  some 
distance  outside  the  city.  At  Monroe  the  bridge 
over  the  Raisin  river  was  gone  and  passengers  and 
baggage  had  to  be  ferried  across  the  raging  ice- 
gorged  stream.  While  at  the  house  of  Brother 
French,  in  Exeter,  I  anxiously  awaited  the  arrival  of 
my  wife.  Standing  one  morning  by  the  large,  open 
fireplace,  gazing  into  brightly  blazing  fire,  in  a  kind 
of  a  soliloquy  I  said,  "My  buggy  is  at  Coldwater,  my 
horse  at  Ida,  my  two  children  are  in  Illinois,  my  wife 
in  Ohio,  and  the  Lord  only  knows  whether  we  will 
all  ever  get  together  again."  Brother  French,  sitting 
near  by,  overheard  the  remark  and  was  greatly 
pleased.  But  my  wife  soon  reached  me  in  safety, 
and  in  the  good  providence  of  God  our  family  were 
all  finally  reunited. 

We  held  some  meetings  on  the  Huron  circuit  and 


Early  Free  Methodism  173 

then  went  on  to  Ida,  where  my  horse  was,  and  mak- 
ing a  sled  of  poles,  my  wife  and  I  started  for  Cold- 
water.  The  snow  was  melting  rapidly,  and  when  on 
the  second  day  we  reached  Brother  Stephen  Rice's, 
near  Jonesville,  the  runners  of  our  pole-sled  were  so 
badly  worn  we  were  obliged  to  abandon  that  mode 
of  transportation,  so  the  next  morning,  putting  Sister 
Hart  on  the  train,  I  mounted  our  faithful  horse 
"Billy,"  and  made  the  remaining  twenty  miles  or 
more  of  our  journey  in  safety.  We  spent  some 
time  with  Brother  Ellison  in  meetings  in  Coldwater. 
Our  services  were  held  in  the  court-house.  It  seemed 
to  be  supposed  that  these  meetings  were  of  the  free 
and  easy  sort,  and  Mormons,  Spiritualists  and  the 
discontented  generally  were  ready  to  air  their  pecu- 
liar views.  I  soon  put  a  stop  to  this,  however,  and 
very  decidedly  gave  them  to  understand  that  the 
meetings  were  not  open  to  the  rag-tag  bob-tailed 
genus  of  religionists,  but  especially  for  the  promotion 
of  scriptural  holiness.  This  greatly  enraged  them, 
and  accosting  me  as  I  passed  out  at  the  close  of  the 
evening  service  one  of  the  Spiritualist  stripe  informed 
me  that  he  could  see  devils  all  around  me  as  I  was 
preaching,  and  that  he  could  see  them  all  around 
Mother  Pinney  (mother  of  Judge  Pinney,  late  of 
Chicago,  Illinois).  I  quietly  assured  him  I  could 
easily  account  for  that,  "for,"  said  I,  "John  says  of 


174  Reminiscences  of 

him  who  would  see  God  as  he  is,  "He  purifieth  him- 
self even  as  he  is  pure."  "So,"  I  said,  "moral  like- 
ness is  essential  to  seeing  God,  and  if  you  would  see 
devils  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  be  morally  like 
devils." 

Closing  our  meeting  in  Coldwater,  we  decided  to 
go  on  to  Marengo,  Illinois.  Taking  the  train  at  4 
a.  m.,  we  went  speeding  on  our  way.  But  the  train 
was  altogether  too  slow  for  Sister  Hart's  anxious  de- 
sire to  once  more  meet  her  children.  She  could 
hardly  lean  back  in  the  seat,  but  sitting  on  the  front 
edge  and  leaning  forward  seemed  to  think  she  was 
making  more  rapid  progress.  We  reached  home  in 
due  time  and  found  children  and  friends  all  well  and 
glad  to  greet  us. 

Edson  A.  Kimball  had  for  several  years  been  a 
successful  business  man  at  Elgin,  Illinois.  He  was  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  Brother  Kimball  was  a  special  friend  of 
Doctor  Redfield.  It  was  through  Brother  Kimball's 
influence  that  the  doctor  first  visited  and  held  meet- 
ings in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Elgin. 
Having  united  with  the  Free  church.  Brother  Kim- 
ball was  desirous  that  a  class  should  be  raised  up  at 
Elgin.  From  the  session  of  the  conference  held  at 
Marengo,  September  13-16,  1865,  Rev.  Cyrus  Under- 
wood was  sent  to  Elgin.    During  the  winter  a  revival 


Early  Free  Methodism  175 

service  resulted  in  the  organization  of  a  class. 
Through  the  means  furnished  largely  by  Brother 
Kimball  a  fine  church  was  erected.  Brother  Under- 
wood labored  at  Elgin  until  the  spring  of  1867,  when 
an  arrangement  was  made  for  Brother  Underwood  to 
take  my  work  in  Michigan  for  the  summer,  and  for 
me  to  supply  Elgin.  Brother  Underwood  labored 
successfully  in  Michigan,  and  at  the  next  session  of 
his  conference  was  sent  to  Freeport.  We  went  on 
to  Elgin  and  stopped  with  Brother  Kimball  and 
family  while  we  finished  off  rooms  in  a  part  of  the 
large  basement  of  the  church.  We  finished  off  two 
or  three  rooms  and  moved  in.  We  commenced 
street  meetings,  which,  being  quite  a  novelty,  at- 
tracted a  good  deal  of  attention.  I  would  preach  at 
the  church  at  10:30  a.  m.,  in  the  street  at  6:30  p.  m., 
and  at  the  church  again  at  7:30  p.  m.  We  had  a 
profitable  summer's  work.  I  received  an  invitation 
from  a  Congregationalist  minister  preaching  to  a 
church  at  a  small  place  about  four  miles  west  of 
Elgin.  Several  of  us  went  out  one  Tuesday  evening. 
We  had  a  good,  free  time,  the  pastor  very  heartily 
endorsing  all  he  heard.  On  a  Sabbath  after  I  ex- 
changed pulpits  with  this  brother.  During  the  latter 
part  of  the  summer  this  preacher  attended  our  camp- 
meeting  at  Garden  Prairie.  I  remember  in  preaching 
one  day  on  the  camp-ground  he  said  the  only  thing 


176  Reminiscences  of 

he  feared  about  us  as  a  people  was  that  we  would 
not  be  as  charitable  as  we  ought,  but  would  be  too 
harsh  in  our  judgment  of  others.  The  man  bid  fair 
to  become  a  zealous  advocate  of  the  doctrine  of  holi- 
ness, but,  unfortunately,  he  fell  in  with  a  class  of 
come-outers  and  became  so  embittered  and  so  harsh 
we  could  not  tolerate  him,  and  he  finally  developed 
into  the  character  afterwards  known  as  "Stumbling 
Stone  Johnson."  He  settled  in  Toledo,  Ohio,  started 
a  paper  called  the  Stumbling  Stone,  and  for  aught 
I  know  is  still  dealing  out  his  denunciations  against 
everybody  and  everything  not  just  after  his  way  of 
thinking. 

August  23-28  I  attended  the  session  of  the  Mich- 
igan conference,  held  in  connection  with  a  camp- 
meeting  near  Coldwater,  Michigan.  I  was  again 
elected  chairman,  and  arranging  with  Brother  Under- 
wood to  hold  my  quarterly  meeting,  returned  to  fill 
out  the  year  at  Elgin. 

The  Illinois  conference  in  the  fall  of  1867  held  its 
session  at  Elgin,  commencing  on  Wednesday,  Sep- 
tember 18.  Our  society  was  not  large,  but  we  put  a 
rough  floor  into  the  unused  part  of  the  basement,  and 
getting  a  large  cook-stove  and  extemporizing  tables 
we  were  prepared  to  entertain  a  good  proportion  of 
the  preachers  and  delegates  at  the  church.  Mother 
Hart  and  Mother  Bishop  took  charge  of  the  culinary 


Early  Free  Methodism  177 

department,  and  with  other  sisters  to  care  for  the 
table  we  were  well  equipped.  The  brethren  from 
the  country  sent  in  beef,  mutton  and  vegetables,  and 
we  were  well  provided  with  eatables.  At  this  session 
the  following  brethren  were  admitted  into  the  trav- 
eling connection  on  trial:  W.  A.  Nobles,  W.  F.  Man- 
ley,  Lewis  Bailey,  J.  W.  Cain,  Wm.  Neal,  Peter 
Lynch.  Joseph  McCreery,  at  his  own  request,  was 
placed  in  a  local  relation.  Lewis  Bailey  had  been 
running  a  flouring  mill  at  Galva,  Illinois,  but  disen- 
tangling himself  from  the  affairs  of  this  life  he  en- 
tered the  work  of  the  ministry  and  became  an  effi- 
cient worker  in  the  cause  of  God.  At  the  time  of 
his  death  he  was  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Free 
Methodist.  Jonathan  Blanchard,  president  of  Wheaton 
college,  came  and  spoke  words  of  encouragement  to 
the  conference.  He  was  especially  anxious  that  the 
conference  should  inaugurate  a  movement  in  opposi- 
tion to  secret  societies.  I  remember  that  in  speak- 
ing to  the  conference  on  the  subject  he  said,  "Go 
ahead,  boys,  and  if  I  can't  keep  up  I  will  hold  on  to 
your  coat-tails  and  look  over  your  shoulder."  The  con- 
ference adopted  the  following  report  on  the  subject: 

Owing  to  the  increasing  influence  of  secret  societies  and 
the  unjustifiable  complicity  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  with  the 
same,  and  believing  our  position  as  a  church  to  be  in  accord- 
ance with  the  word  of  God  in  its  application  to  such  unhallowed 
alliances,  viz.:  "come  out  from  among  them,"  etc.,  also  con- 


178  Reminiscences  of 

sistent  with  the  genious  of  our  republican  institutions,  therefore 
as  a  conference  we  are  settled  in  the  sustaining  our  disciplinary 
provisions  thereon.  And  furthermore,  believing  secret  society 
influence  to  be  a  subtle  and  insidious  foe  to  spirituality,  by  its 
substitution  of  a  Christless  religion,  a  system  of  semi-biblical 
rites,  and  a  specious  charity  for  the  regenerating  power  of  the 
gospel,  we  will  in  all  proper  ways  and  by  all  proper  means 
oppose  its  blasphemous  pretensions,  its  arrogant  assumptions, 
and  its  silent  influence.  And  while  we  look  with  pity  upon 
those  members  of  the  visible  church  and  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel who  affiliate  with  the  same,  we  regard  with  righteous  indig- 
nation, particularly  such  who  actively  urge  its  pretended  claims 
and  defend  its  influence  and  tendencies,  and  though  as  a  con- 
ference we  do  not  think  it  wise  to  adopt  any  organized  move- 
ment in  special  reference  to  this  iniquity,  still  we  think  that  a 
concerted  action  of  the  various  churches  of  Christ  in  opposing 
this  evil  is  desirable,  and  understanding  that  such  concerted 
action  is  to  be  inaugurated  by  a  convention  of  Christians  in  the 
city  of  Aurora,  Illinois,  on  the  third  Wednesday  of  October, 
1867,  with  the  purpose  of  securing  a  national  convention  of 
Christians  who  are  opposed  to  this  evil;  therefore,  as  a  confer- 
ence we  give  our  warmest  sympathy  and  recommend  our  people 
to  active  co-operation  with  the  same. 

The  movement  spoken  of  in  the  report  was  inau- 
gurated at  Aurora,  and  resulted  in  the  organization 
of  "The  Christian  Association  Opposed  to  Secret 
Societies."  In  the  appointments  of  this  year  Elgin, 
Marengo  and  Clintonville  were  put  together,  and 
N.  D.  Fanning  and  Julius  Buss  were  appointed  to 
the  work.  We  returned  to  our  work  in  Michigan. 
At  this  time  the  Illinois  conference  numbered  1,085 
members  with  207  on  probation,  and  the  Michigan 
conference  404  with  249  probationers. 


Early  Free  Methodism  179 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Meanwhile  the  work  was  spreading  in  the  Illinois 
conference.  A  Wisconsin  district  was  formed.  A 
Brother  Sumner,  living  in  Minnesota,  heard  of  the 
Free  church  and  desired  to  join.  The  questions  of 
the  Discipline  were  sent  him,  and  he  answered  them 
to  the  Marengo  society  by  mail,  and  was  duly  voted 
in.  J.  W.  Dake  was  at  that  time  blocking  out  a 
district  in  Bureau  county. 

Brother  D.  P.  Reed,  of  Galva,  a  zealous  Method- 
ist, heard  of  one  of  our  camp-meetings,  and  making 
his  way  to  it  found  it  was  just  what  he  had  been 
looking  for.  He  and  his  wife  joined,  and  a  class  was 
soon  organized  at  Galva  and  a  church  built.  Sister 
Reed  some  years  ago  passed  triumphantly  to  the 
better  land.  Brother  Reed  now  lives  at  Corralitos, 
California.  He  is  realizing  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promises  of  the  last  three  verses  of  the  ninety-first 
Psalm.  Brother  and  Sister  Dudman  knew  the  joyful 
sound  and  fell  into  line.  They  removed  to  Chicago, 
where  for  years  they  stood  nobly  by  the  work,  their 
house  ever  being  a  home  of  rest  for  weary  toilers. 
Some  years  ago  Brother  Dudman  died  in  holy  tri- 


i8o  Reminiscences  of 

umph.  Sister  Dudman  still  lives,  a  pilgrim  and  a 
stranger,  but  filled  with  zeal  and  holy  joy,  as  she 
passes  on  to  that  city  which  hath  foundations  whose 
builder  and  maker  is  God. 

From  that  part  of  the  work  several  efficient 
laborers  were  raised  up.  Lewis  Bailey,  for  years  a 
leading  preacher  in  the  Illinois  conference  and  at  the 
time  of  his  death  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  Free 
Methodist^  Septer  Roberts,  J.  Craig,  C.  L.  Lambertson 
and  others  were  also  raised  up  and  sent  out  from 
this  part  of  the  work.  Brother  Travis  went  over 
into  Iowa  and  faced  the  cold  winds  of  the  winter 
and  endured  the  heat  of  the  summer  in  establishing 
the  work  in  that  state.  Conferences  known  as  the 
Minnesota  and  North  Iowa,  the  Iowa  and  others 
were  later  organized  throughout  the  West,  which 
further  on  may  be  more  fully  mentioned. 

The  laborers  in  the  Michigan  conference  kept  on 
lengthening  their  cords  and  strengthening  their 
stakes.  Brother  and  Sister  Frink,  through  Brother 
Thomas  Riley,  went  down  into  Richland  county, 
Ohio,  and  a  society  which  proved  to  be  the  germ  of 
the  Ohio  conference  was  soon  organized.  Brother 
Gitchell  struck  over  into  Indiana  and  raised  up  cir- 
cuits and  built  churches. 

The  Michigan  conference  held  its  third  session 
in  connection  with  a  camp-meeting  near  Coldwater, 


Early  Free  Methodism  i8l 

Branch  county,  August  23-28,  1867.  I  was  again 
elected  to  the  district,  having  twelve  charges.  Among 
the  appointments  was  that  of  the  Coldwater  circuit, 
reading,  "W.  D.  Bishop,  and  one  to  be  supplied." 
By  recommendation  of  Brother  Roberts  an  unassum- 
ing young  man  from  Livingston  county.  New  York, 
who  had  not  yet  reached  his  majority,  was  appointed. 
Brushing  away  his  tears,  he  endured  the  pangs  of 
homesickness,  and  rising  superior  to  the  embarrass- 
ment of  his  native  modesty,  stood  nobly  at  his  post 
to  the  close  of  the  year. 

At  the  session  of  the  conference  held  in  the  White 
church,  at  Raisinville,  Monroe  county,  September 
10-15,  1868,  a  class  of  five,  this  young  man  being  one 
of  the  number,  were  received  into  the  conference  on 
trial.  With  the  exception  of  Halloway  Sawyer,  who 
is  now  in  a  superanumated  relation,  B.  R.  Jones  is 
the  only  member  of  the  class  who  is  still  in  the 
church.  Having  successfully  passed  the  examina- 
tions in  the  course  of  study,  he  was  received  into  the 
conference  and  duly  ordained  both  as  deacon  and 
elder.  In  the  fall  of  1874  elected  to  the  office  of 
chairman,  for  several  years  he  filled  that  position 
with  marked  ability,  and  at  the  session  of  the  general 
conference  held  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  in  the  fall  of 
1890,  he  was  called  to  fill  the  more  responsible  posi- 
tion of  editor  of  our  denominational  paper.    At  the 


1 82  Reminiscences  of 

session  of  the  general  conference  held  four  years 
later  at  Greenville,  Illinois,  he  was  elected  to  the 
general  superintendency.  Re-elected  at  Chicago  in 
1898,  he  is  now  filling  his  second  term  in  that  impor- 
tant position. 

About  1868  two  responsible  men,  A.  W.  Perry 
and  Lyman  Parker,  with  their  families,  came  from 
western  New  York  and  settled  at  Coopersville, 
Ottawa  county,  Michigan.  Being  staunch  Free 
Methodists,  they  determined  to  have  our  work  estab- 
lished in  that  part  of  the  state.  During  the  fall  of 
that  year,  by  invitation  of  these  brethren,  my  wife 
and  myself  visited  their  locality  and  held  services  at 
several  different  points.  W.  R.  Cusick,  an  ordained 
deacon  of  the  Genesee  conference,  had  been  favora- 
bly known  by  these  brethren,  and  during  the  year 
1869  they  prevailed  on  him  to  come  to  their  part  of 
the  state  of  Michigan. 

I  notice  on  page  401  ot  the  Life  of  Roberts,  in  an 
article  written  by  Brother  Cusick,  in  speaking  of  his 
coming  to  Michigan  he  says,  "The  church  was  then 
in  its  infancy,  there  not  being  more  than  three  hun- 
dred members  in  the  three  states  of  Michigan,  Indiana 
and  Ohio."  Brother  Cusick  could  not  have  had  the 
statistics  at  hand,  as  by  reference  to  the  minutes  of 
1869  I  find  there  were  reported  807  in  full  connection 
and  266  on  probation,  making  a  total  of  1,073.     I 


Early  Free  Methodism  183 

speak  of  this  for  the  reason  that  the  future  historian 
of  the  church  must  depend  on  statements  made  in 
the  years  of  its  formation,  and  it  is  desirable  that 
these  statements  be  as  nearly  correct  as  possible. 

Brother  Cusick  had  expected  to  secure  the  ser- 
vices of  Brother  Roberts  in  special  meetings  at 
Coopersville,  but  failing  in  this,  on  the  advice  of 
Brothers  Perry  and  Parker  he  sent  for  me.  I  reached 
Coopersville  on  Thursday  and  found  they  had  en- 
gaged the  Congregational  church,  the  only  church 
building  in  the  place,  for  a  four  days'  meeting.  There 
were  perhaps  about  a  dozen  out  the  first  evening.  On 
Friday  evening  there  was  a  fair  congregation  and  a 
good  degree  of  interest.  On  Saturday  evening  the 
break  came  when  the  wife  of  the  leading  merchant, 
the  postmaster's  wife  and  several  others  of  the  first 
ladies  in  town  came  rushing  to  the  penitent  form  lit- 
erally screaming  for  mercy.  On  Sabbath  the  Lord 
came  in  power. 

Early  on  Monday  morning  Brother  Cusick  went 
to  the  leading  man  of  the  Congregational  church,  for 
at  this  time  they  were  without  a  pastor,  and  laid  the 
case  before  him,  saying  to  him  that  the  Lord  had 
come  and  that  we  did  not  feel  like  taking  the  respon- 
sibility of  closing  the  meeting,  adding,  ''but  of  course 
if  you  say  so  we  must  stop."  Although  this  man 
was  not  noted  for  any  great  degree  of  devotion,  he 


1 84  Reminiscences  of 

very  readily  consented  to  the  further  use  of  the 
house,  and  we  kept  on  with  the  services.  During  the 
week  the  meetings  increased  in  interest  and  power, 
and  before  the  next  Sabbath  by  a  marked  providence 
we  had  a  clear  indication  of  the  will  of  God  that 
meetings  should  continue.  The  wife  of  a  blacksmith 
who  had  gone  to  Canada  on  a  visit  had  suddenly 
died.  This  lady  was  the  daughter  of  a  man  who  had 
been  blessed  and  who  had  become  deeply  interested 
in  the  meeting.  The  husband  was  not  a  professor, 
but  husband  and  father  both  earnestly  requested  me 
to  remain  and  preach  the  funeral  sermon.  I  did  so, 
and  this  service  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
minds  of  the  people. 

The  Methodists  had  no  society  in  the  place,  but 
had  a  few  scattering  members  in  the  vicinity.  Brother 
Cusick  lived  about  a  mile  out  of  the  village.  I  was 
staying  at  his  house.  On  the  adjoining  place  not 
many  rods  from  Brother  Cusick's  lived  an  old  man 
and  wife  by  the  name  of  Watson,  who  were  wealthy. 
Mr.  Watson  was  familiarly  known  all  through  that 
section  an  "Uncle  Tom  Watson."  These  people 
were  zealous  in  their  attachment  to  the  church  of 
their  choice.  Uncle  Tom,  with  others  interested, 
concluded  this  would  be  a  good  opportunity,  by 
taking  advantage  of  the  tidal  wave  of  salvation  now 
coming  in,  to  float  their  denomination  into  the  chan- 


Early  Free  Methodism  185 

nel  of  success.  They  sent  to  Canada  for  a  man  who 
had  a  reputation  as  a  preacher  and  an  organizer. 
The  man  came  on  and  began  operations. 

Early  one  morning  Brother  Cusick  went  out  to 
his  stable,  and,  looking  over  to  Uncle  Tom  Watson's, 
saw  the  old  gentleman  out  in  his  yard.  Seeing  him 
out  at  such  an  early  hour,  at  once  Brother  Cusick 
concluded  that  something  unusual  had  occurred.  In 
a  few  hours  Uncle  Tom  came  over  to  Brother  Cusick's, 
and  with  a  dejected  look  and  sorrowful  tone  said  his 
wife  had  become  insane.  Brother  Cusick  at  once 
went  over,  and  as  he  entered  the  room  where  Aunt 
Rhoda  was  sitting  she  cried  out  in  great  agitation, 
"Oh,  I  was  in  Pilate's  hall  last  night  and  they  were 
planning  to  crucify  my  Savior!"  She  was  in  great 
agony  of  soul,  but  Brother  Cusick  saw  at  once  that 
God  had  undertaken.  Uncle  Tom,  in  his  anxiety  for 
his  wife,  was  glad  to  have  our  people  visit  and  pray 
for  her.  Uncle  Tom  and  Aunt  Rhoda  got  grandly 
saved  and  joined  our  class.  So  effectually  had  the 
Lord  come  that  all  efforts  to  bring  in  division  and 
distraction  were  completely  foiled.  The  preacher 
went  back  to  Canada  and  our  work  had  a  clear  field. 

I  had  stayed  at  Coopersville  longer  than  I  had 
planned,  so  returned  home.  Brother  Cusick  held  on 
for  one  or  two  weeks,  when,  it  being  apparent  that 
the  work  had  but  just  begun,  at  his  earnest  solicita- 


l86  Reminiscences  of 

tion  I  returned.  For  weeks  the  work  went  on  in 
power.  Under  the  labors  of  Brother  Cusick  a  fine, 
large  church  was  built.  I  was  called  to  dedicate  it, 
and  Coopersville  became  the  center  from  which  our 
work  spread  out  through  northern  Michigan.  Brother 
Cusick  and  others  worked  east  along  the  line  of  the 
Detroit  &  Grand  Haven  railroad.  A  good  society 
was  raised  up  at  Saint  Johns  and  a  fine  brick  church 
erected.  Someone  saved  here  took  the  fire  over  into 
Canada,  and  this  was  the  beginning  of  a  work  which 
has  resulted  in  the  formation  of  two  good,  substan- 
tial conferences  in  the  Dominion. 

Brother  James  had  been  appointed  to  Isabella 
county,  which  at  that  time  was  considered  about  the 
extreme  northern  limit  of  civilization.  I  made  one 
appointment  for  a  quarterly  meeting  on  that  work. 
I  went  to  Saint  Johns  by  cars  and  took  the  stage  the 
next  day  for  Saint  Louis,  whether  Brother  James 
met  me  with  his  pony  and  buckboard.  Going  as  far 
as  we  could  with  this  mode  of  transportation  we 
reached  our  place  of  entertainment,  and  then  went 
on  foot  over  a  trail  to  the  schoolhouse.  This  was  a 
new  structure  and  had  not  yet  been  chinked  up,  but, 
as  I  told  them,  there  was  an  intermission  of  fifteen 
minutes  between  the  logs.  At  the  close  of  evening 
meeting  some  of  the  brethren  went  before,  carrying 
blazing  pine  torches  to  light  us  on  the  trail.     On 


Early  Free  Methodism  1B7 

Sunday  morning  a  congregation  of  twenty-five  or 
thirty  was  out.  I  inquired  of  Brother  James  why 
the  people  did  not  turn  out.  "Why,  bless  you."  said 
he,  "they  are  out  here  from  miles  around."  That 
section,  at  that  time  so  sparsely  settled,  has  become 
one  of  the  finest  farming  portions  of  the  state,  and  it 
has  been  my  privilege  in  that  region  in  later  years  to 
attend  camp-meetings  of  great  power. 


1 88  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

During  the  summer  of  1868  my  wife  and  myself 
held  a  grove-meeting  in  the  township  of  Berlin,  Ionia 
county.  W.  H.  James  was  preaching  on  the  Isabella 
circuit  at  the  time  and  we  had  quite  a  number  of 
members  scattered  through  the  different  counties  in 
that  part  of  the  State,  which,  although  it  lies  far 
south  of  the  center,  was  at  that  time  spoken  of  as 
North  Michigan.  All  that  region,  then  an  almost 
unbroken  wilderness,  is  now  one  of  the  most  pro- 
ductive portions  of  the  State.  The  Free  Methodist 
church  had  hardly  been  heard  of  in  Ionia  county, 
but  having  advertised  the  meeting  in  the  Earnest 
Christian^  as  the  scattered  ones  came  in  from  different 
points  singing  and  shouting  and  praising  the  Lord, 
the  people  in  the  vicinity  of  the  grove-meeting  were 
astonished,  for  judging  by  the  noise  they  thought 
certainly  there  must  be  a  multitude.  Brother  James 
and  wife  and  a  young  Brother  Wilcox  had  come 
nearly  a  hundred  miles  with  a  horse  and  buckboard. 
Some  of  the  people  expressed  their  surprise  that  so 
many  Free  Methodists  could  be  found  in  that  region. 
"Why,"  said   I,  "didn't   you   know   that  the  north 


Early  Free  Methodism  189 

woods  are  full  of  them?"  A  Brother  R.  D.  Howe, 
a  Wesleyan  minister  and  a  staunch  reformer  of  long 
standing,  heard  the  joyful  sound,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1870  made  his  way  to  the  session  of  the  conference 
held  at  Holland,  Ohio,  September  29  and  united, 
taking  a  superannuated  relation;  but  before  the  close 
of  the  conference  year  he  was  called  to  his  everlast- 
ing rest. 

At  this  session  the  conference  territory  was 
divided  and  two  districts  formed.  I  was  appointed 
to  the  Toledo  district,  having  eleven  charges,  and 
John  Kllison  to  the  Grand  Rapids  district,  having 
nine  charges.  I  had  held  a  meeting  near  Concord, 
Jackson  county,  where  a  fine  class  was  raised  up, 
and,  under  the  labors  of  Brother  Jones,  another  at 
Eckford,  where  Brother  and  Sister  Jennings,  Brother 
Mains  and  others  took  their  stand,  also  a  local 
preacher  from  the  Genesee  conference  by  the  name 
of  John  Billings,  who,  together  with  his  devoted 
wife,  stood  nobly  by  the  work. 

From  the  session  at  Holland  Rev.  A.  V.  Leonard- 
son  was  appointed  to  Concord  and  Eckford.  I 
went  to  that  work  to  hold  a  quarterly  meeting  and 
my  attention  was  called  to  some  old  school  property 
at  Spring  Arbor,  which  had  formerly  been  owned 
and  operated  by  the  Free  Will  Baptists;  but  about 
twenty  years  previous  to  the  time  of  which  I  write 


igO  Reminiscences  of 

the  Free  Will  Baptists  had  removed  to  Hillsdale. 
The  property  at  Spring  Arbor  was  in  a  sadly  dilapi- 
dated condition.  There  were  ten  acres  of  land  and 
two  buildings,  one  of  which  had  formerly  been  used 
for  a  chapel  and  the  other  for  a  boarding  hall.  The 
property  had  been  sold  to  satisfy  a  mortgage,  and 
aside  from  a  few  rooms  in  the  boarding  hall  in  which 
the  preacher,  Brother  Leonardson,  lived,  was  unoc- 
cupied. I  presented  the  matter  of  a  school  and 
spoke  of  this  property  at  the  session  of  the  confer- 
ence at  Holland.  The  next  session  of  the  conference 
was  appointed  for  the  Concord  work,  but  held  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Spring  Arbor. 
Brother  Roberts  was  present  and  presided.  Aside 
from  the  family  of  the  preacher  residing  in  the  old 
boarding  hall  I  think  there  was  not  a  Free  Meth- 
odist family  in  the  township.  But  it  was  a  rich 
farming  community  and  the  people  were  hospitable, 
and  I  question  whether  any  session  of  our  conference 
was  ever  better  provided  for. 

My  wife  and  myself  and  our  baby,  which  had 
been  born  to  us  at  Toledo,  Ohio,  during  the  previous 
year,  rode  from  Jackson,  some  eight  miles,  to  Spring 
Arbor,  with  a  Mr.  Crouch.  I  was  a  little  uneasy  as 
to  entertainment  and  inquired  of  Mr.  Crouch  what 
the  prospect  for  caring  for  the  conference  was.  I 
suspect  he  saw  I  was  a  little  nervous,  for  he  at  once 


Early  Free  Methodism  191 

replied,  "Oh,  they  are  just  coming  in  crowds,  every- 
thing all  filled  up;  why,  by  to-night  they  will  be 
hanging  on  the  fences."  You  may  be  assured  his 
report  did  not  tend  to  allay  my  uneasiness.  But 
after  a  little  he  said:  "I  don't  want  to  see  that  baby 
suffer,  so  I  guess  I'll  take  you  folks  to  my  house." 
I  hardly  need  add  that  we  were  royally  entertained. 
Brother  Roberts  was  sent  to  Brother  I.  B.  Allen's  to 
stop.  Just  as  he  was  preparing  to  retire,  someone 
spoke  of  a  Doctor  Hanchett  living  near  by.  Brother 
Roberts  at  once  spoke  up  and  said,  "Doctor  Han- 
chett— what  are  his  initials?"  When  told,  he  ex- 
claimed excitedly,  "Why,  he  was  a  classmate  of 
mine  in  college.  I  must  go  at  once  and  see  him." 
And  late  as  it  was  Brother  Roberts  pulled  on  his 
boots  and  overcoat  and  started  for  the  home  of  his 
old  classmate.  He  was  cordially  received  and  the 
doctor  and  his  wife  insisted  on  having  Brother 
Roberts  as  their  guest  during  the  conference  session. 
So  these  men  who  had  when  young  sat  side  by 
side  during  their  college  course;  after  the  lapse  of 
years,  each  as  to  qualifications  competent  to  stand  at 
the  head  of  their  respective  professions,  unexpectedly 
meet  again.  But  how  differently  circumstanced. 
The  one  a  man  of  God,  strong  and  robust,  destined 
to  years  of  usefulness  and  a  bright  eternity.  The 
other   through   dissipation   a   mental   and    physical 


192  Reminiscences  of 

wreck  and  destined  in  a  few  months  from  this  meet- 
ing to  pass  into  eternity,  having  made  the  mistake  of  a 
lifetime.  On  Sabbath  morning  it  was  plain  to  be  seen 
that  with  Brother  Roberts  the  cross  was  remarkably 
heavy.  But  in  the  presence  of  his  old  college  chum 
he  preached  a  sermon  of  wonderful  spirit  and  power. 
At  the  session  of  the  conference  held  at  Spring 
Arbor  articles  of  agreement  were  presented  by  the 
committee  on  education  in  which  the  conference 
pledged  itself,  provided  the  citizens  of  Spring  Arbor 
would  purchase  the  property  at  that  place  and  put 
the  buildings  in  suitable  repair,  to  raise  at  least 
$2,000  for  the  purchase  of  furniture,  etc.,  "and  as 
much  more  as  shall  make  the  amount  thus  appro- 
priated equal  to  the  sum  appropriated  by  the  citi- 
zens." L.  T.  Frink,  E.  P.  Hart,  Charles  Mattice, 
J.  T.  Gates  and  D.  W.  Tinkham  were  appointed  to 
act  in  behalf  of  the  conference.  The  following  reso- 
lution was  also  adopted: 

"In  case  the  citizens  of  Spring  Arbor  do  not  accept  the 
articles  of  agreement  as  heretofore  mentioned,  C.  S.  Gitchell 
and  J.W.Vickery  shall  be  added  to  the  above  committee,  and  that 
said  committee  be  then  authorized  to  take  measures  to  estab- 
lish a  school  at  some  other  point." 

The  citizens  of  Spring  Arbor  held  a  meeting  and 
appointed  committees  to  attend  to  raising  funds  for 
the  purchase  of  the  property,  but  no  definite  under- 
standing was   reached,    and   conference   adjourned 


Early  Free  Methodism  193 

leaving  the  matter  open  until  the  session  of  the  fol- 
lowing year. 

At  this  session  at  Spring  Arbor,  conference  voted 
unanimously  in  favor  of  the  proposed  change  in  the 
general  rules  respecting  the  use  of  tobacco.  Also 
with  two  exceptions  a  unanimous  vote  was  given  in 
favor  of  placing  the  general  superintendency  under 
the  restrictive  rules.  The  next  session  was  voted  to 
be  held  at  Delta,  Ohio.  Brother  and  Sister  Frink 
had  commenced  meetings  at  Delta.  They  procured 
an  old  hall  which  was  not  considered  very  safe.  At 
first  the  Methodists  sent  an  urgent  request  for  them 
to  come  into  their  church.'  Brother  Frink  preferred 
to  work  where  he  would  be  entirely  untrammeled, 
but  finally  the  crowds  in  attendance  being  so  large 
as  to  make  it  dangerous  to  occupy  the  hall,  the 
Methodists  supposing  that  these  disturbers  in  Israel 
would,  for  want  of  a  place  in  which  to  hold  their 
meetings,  be  obliged  to  leave  town,  withdrew  the 
generous  offer  of  their  house. 

Thrown  out  of  a  place  for  the  meeting,  Brother 
Frink  returned  to  his  home  at  Holland.  But  the 
Lord  stirred  up  the  hearts  of  some  of  the  people,  and 
having  secured  a  place  they  sent  for  him  to  come 
and  resume  his  meeting.  Brother  Frink  was  not 
slow  to  take  advantage  of  the  opening,  and  for  weeks 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  was  poured  out  and  salvation 


ig4  Reminiscences  of 

came.  Of  course  the  town  was  greatly  stirred.  The 
lines  were  drawn,  and  the  people  took  sides  for  and 
against.  At  the  beginning  of  the  meeting  a  local 
preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  by  the 
name  of  Woods  was  bitterly  opposed  to  the  work, 
going  so  far  as  to  publicly  denounce  it.  The  Lord 
touched  his  heart  and  opened  his  eyes,  and  hum- 
bling himself  in  bitter  repentance  he  became  one  of 
the  staunchest  promoters  of  the  cause.  When  the 
society  was  formed  he  united,  and  stood  nobly  by  to 
the  day  of  his  death. 

Being  a  good  mechanic,  Brother  Woods  helped 
greatly  in  the  building  of  the  fine  church  which  was 
soon  erected.  A  brother,  J.  T.  Gates,  a  prominent 
business  man,  became  interested  in  the  work  and 
assisted  largely  with  his  means.  He  gave  me  a  lot, 
and  selling  a  small  place  in  Illinois  which  my  wife's 
father  had  given  her,  we  built  a  house  on  the  lot  and 
moved  to  Delta.  Brother  Frink  had  arranged  for 
Brother  Roberts  to  dedicate  the  church,  but  for  some 
reason  Brother  Roberts  could  not  attend,  and  the 
dedication  of  the  house  devolved  on  me.  As  the 
general  superintendent  had  been  expected,  it  was  a 
great  cross  tor  me  to  undertake  the  work.  But  by 
gracious  assistance  afforded,  the  indebtedness  was 
provided  for  and  the  house  formally  consecrated  to 
the  worship  of  God. 


Early  Free  Methodism  195 

At  this  time  I  was  acting  as  chairman  on  the 
Toledo  and  Coldwater  districts.  John  Ellison  was 
chairman  of  the  Grand  Rapids,  and  S.  Roberts  of  the 
Cincinnati  district.  We  now  had  twenty-six  charges 
on  the  four  districts,  together  with  thirty-four  preach- 
ers and  over  eleven  hundred  members  in  full  con- 
nection. For  a  time  previous  to  our  removing  to 
Delta  we  lived  in  Toledo,  Ohio.  Being  desirous  of 
raising  up  a  work  in  that  city,  I  so  arranged  my  ap- 
pointments that  I  might  spend  some  time  in  meet- 
ings there.  We  secured  an  old  church  building 
down  by  the  river  known  as  "The  Old  Bethel."  It 
was  in  an  out-of-the-way  place  and  in  a  bad  part  of 
the  city.  The  building  was  cold  and  sadly  out  of 
repair,  but  it  was  the  best  opening  we  were  able  to 
find,  and  here  we  held  on  for  several  weeks.  No 
great  good  was  accomplished  for  our  work  in  the 
city,  but  providentially  through  this  meeting  the 
way  was  opened  for  our  work  in  the  southern  part  of 
Michigan. 

Living  in  the  township  of  Madison,  Michigan, 
some  thirty  miles  perhaps  northwest  of  Toledo,  was 
a  family  by  the  name  of  Reed.  They  were  promi- 
nent members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 
LaFayette  Reed,  one  of  the  brothers,  became  greatly 
exercised  in  spirit  over  the  death  and  formality 
which  prevailed,  and  began  to  earnestly  contend  for 


196  Reminiscences  of 

a  better  state  of  things.  He  became  so  intensely 
wrought  up  that  some  feared  he  was  losing  his  mind. 
A  strong  impression  came  to  him  that  he  must  go  to 
the  church  and  at  the  next  Sabbath  morning  service 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  denounce  their  worldliness 
and  want  of  spirituality,  He  felt  assured  in  his  own 
mind  that  this  would  be  his  final  message,  and  that 
immediately  at  its  conclusion  he  would  drop  dead. 
Firm  in  this  conviction,  he  sent  word  to  his  numer- 
ous relatives  to  be  promptly  at  the  church  the  fol- 
lowing Sabbath  morning,  and  arranged  for  them  to 
form  in  procession  and  follow  him  to  the  deliverance 
of  his  final  message  and  to  his  death.  The  Sabbath 
came,  the  friends  were  on  hand,  the  procession 
marched  in  order,  the  message  was  solemnly  deliv- 
ered; but  there  came  an  important  and  unexpected 
hitch  in  the  program,  for  Brother  Reed  did  not  drop 
dead!  His  good  old  mother  explained  matters  as 
she  exclaimed,  "Why,  LaFayette,  it  was  a  death  to 
sin  that  was  intended!" 

Some  of  the  doubters  were  strengthened  in  their 
opinion  as  to  Brother  Reed's  sanity,  and  especially 
when,  having  butchered  his  hogs  and  loaded  them 
into  the  wagon,  instead  of  taking  them  at  once  to 
Adrian  for  market  he  backed  the  wagon  into  the 
shed,  and,  notwithstanding  the  January  thaw,  de- 
clared he  was  awaiting  orders  from  the  Lord  as  to 


Early  Free  Methodism  197 

the  place  where  he  should  take  the  pork  for  sale. 
Finally,  having  received  satisfactory  instruction,  he 
started  with  his  load  of  pork  for  the  Toledo  market. 
His  friends  considered  it  hardly  safe  for  him  to  go 
alone,  and  secured  a  reliable  man  to  accompany  him. 
They  reached  Toledo  in  good  time  and  sold  the  pork 
at  a  considerable  advance  on  the  Adrian  market. 

Brother  Reed  had  in  some  way  heard  of  the  Free 
Methodists,  and  further  that  there  were  some  of  that 
order  in  Toledo.  So  on  his  arrival  in  the  city  he 
made  diligent  inquiry  for  the  sect,  but  failing  to  get 
any  track  of  them,  at  about  nightfall  he  left  the  city 
on  his  homeward  journey.  Having  reached  Tre- 
mainsville,  a  suburb  out  about  five  miles,  he  stopped 
at  the  hotel  and  inquired  of  the  landlord  whether  he 
knew  of  any  Free  Methodists.  The  man  at  once 
replied:  "Oh,  yes!  There  are  some  in  Toledo,  and 
my  son-in-law,  living  just  across  the  street  here,  is 
one  of  them."  Brother  Reed  quickly  made  his  way 
to  the  house  of  the  son-in-law,  Brother  Upham,  and 
was  glad  to  learn  that  a  meeting  was  in  progress  in 
Toledo  and  that  Brother  Upham  was  attending  every 
evening.  Brother  Reed  arranged  to  accompany 
Brother  Upham  to  the  meeting,  and  the  escort  who 
had  come  along  to  watch  Brother  Reed,  probably 
concluding  that  man  who  was  shrewd  enough  to  get 
such  a  marked  advance  on  the  price  of  his  pork 


198  Reminiscences  of 

could  not  be  very  badly  "off"  in  his  mind,  readily 
consented  to  return  home  alone  and  allow  Brother 
Reed  to  attend  the  meeting  and  come  on  later. 

At  the  close  of  the  sermon  that  evening  Brother 
Reed,  an  entire  stranger,  arose  and  gave  a  rather 
rambling  account  of  his  journey  to  the  city  to  sell 
his  "hogs"  and  of  his  diligent  search  for  "this  people;" 
how  he  providentially  came  across  Brother  Upham, 
and  how  his  soul  was  hungering  for  a  better  type  of 
religion.  At  the  close  of  the  service  Sister  Hart  and 
I  talked  with  him  and  invited  him  to  stop  for  the 
night  at  our  house.  In  conversation  with  Brother 
Reed  we  learned  more  particularly  as  to  the  condi- 
tion of  his  mind  and  soul.  We  prayed  together,  and 
arranged  for  an  appointment  at  a  not  very  distant 
date  for  the  schoolhouse  in  his  neighborhood. 

In  the  morning  on  leaving  Brother  Reed  slipped 
a  five-dollar  bill  into  my  hand,  which  in  our  strait- 
ened circumstances  proved  to  be  of  material  benefit. 
I  preached  in  the  neighborhood  according  to  ap- 
pointment, and  this  was  the  beginning  of  our  work 
in  that  section.  Sister  Reed  was  a  highly  intelligent 
woman.  She  fell  into  line,  was  a  devoted  Christian 
while  she  lived,  but  some  years  ago  passed  on  to 
that  land  where  there  is  no  sin,  sickness,  storms  nor 
sorrows,  but  where  reigns  endless  life  and  endless 
day. 


Early  Free  Methodism  199 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  eighth  annual  session  of  the  Michigan  confer- 
ence convened  at  Delta,  Ohio,  Wednesday,  Septem- 
ber 25,  1872.  Brother  Roberts  had  not  arrived  and 
I  was  elected  president  pro  tern.  This  was  the  first 
time  I  had  been  called  upon  to  preside  at  an  annual 
conference  session,  and  I  very  keenly  realized  the 
responsibility.  Rev.  L.  J.  Francisco  was  elected 
secretary  and  Rev.  J.  A.  Wilson  assistant.  On  Fri- 
day afternoon  Brother  Roberts  arrived  and  took  the 
chair.  Rev.  Lewis  Bailey,  at  that  time  editor  of  the 
Free  Methodist,  was  present  at  this  session  of  the  con- 
ference. He  laughingly  remarked  as  to  my  expedi- 
tious way  of  transacting  the  business.  I  suppose  I 
was  quite  nervous  and  perhaps  rushed  the  work 
through  with  unseemly  haste. 

The  school  question  came  up  again  and  the  com- 
mittee presented  the  following  report,  which  was 
adopted: 

"We  still  feel  the  need  of  a  school  devoted  to  the  promo- 
tion of  earnest  Christianity  and  sound,  solid  learning.  The 
effort  to  establish  such  a  school  at  Spring  Arbor  last  year  was 
not  prosecuted  to  success  owing  to  various  causes.  There  is 
still,  we  understand,  a  good  opening  there,  and  we  recommend 


200  Reminiscences  of 

the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  establish  such  a  school  as 
we  need,  either  there  or  in  any  other  place  which  may  offer  in 
their  judgment  superior  advantages  and  inducements.  This 
committee  shall  consist  of  the  following  persons:  E.  P.  Hart, 
L.  J.  Francisco,  C.  S.  Gitchell,  J,  Ellison,  Charles  Mattice,  I.  B. 
Allen,  J.  T.  Gates.  This  committee  shall  have  full  power  to 
establish  the  school,  secure  an  incorporation  and  employ  teach- 
ers, provided  they  shall  proceed  no  farther  nor  faster  than  the 
means  placed  at  their  disposal,  or  secured  by  good  subscrip- 
tions, will  warrant,  so  as  not  to  bring  the  conference  in  debt. 
In  case  the  committee  proceed  to  establish  a  school  we  pledge 
to  them  our  earnest  and  hearty  co-operation." 

The  same  chairmen  were  re-elected  and  appointed 
to  the  same  districts  they  had  traveled  the  previous 
year.  After  the  conference  adjourned  the  commit- 
tee visited  Spring  Arbor  and  informed  the  people 
there  that  we  were  about  to  establish  a  school  at 
some  point,  and  wanted  an  immediate  decision  as  to 
their  acceptance  of  our  offer  of  the  year  before. 
With  one  or  two  other  members  of  the  committee  I 
went  to  Leoni,  a  station  just  east  of  Jackson,  where 
the  Wesleyan  Methodists  had  formerly  conducted  a 
school,  and  looked  over  the  vacated  school  property 
there.  When  we  returned  we  found  the  citizens  of 
Spring  Arbor  in  a  stir  of  excitement  raising  the  funds 
for  the  purchase  of  the  property  at  that  place.  By 
night  their  different  soliciting  committees  came  in  and 
reported  that  they  had  the  required  amount  pledged. 

We  decided  to  locate  the  school  at  Spring  Arbor, 
signed  the  articles  of  agreement,  and  the  property 


Early  Free  Methodism  201 

was  purchased  and  deeded  to  me  in  trust  until  an 
incorporation  could  be  effected  and  trustees  elected. 
I  saw  at  once  that  the  burden  of  the  enterprise  would 
rest  on  me,  and  decided  to  sell  out  at  Delta  and  re- 
move to  Spring  Arbor.  Having  disposed  of  our 
property,  I  purchased  a  lot  and  in  the  early  spring 
commenced  to  build  at  Spring  Arbor.  In  the  meet- 
ing held  by  Doctor  Redfield  at  Marengo,  Illinois, 
among  the  large  number  saved  was  one  Stephen 
Ransom,  who  had  removed  to  Lawrence,  Michigan. 
Knowing  him  to  be  a  first-class  carpenter  and  a 
thoroughly  religious  and  reliable  man,  I  at  once 
opened  correspondence  with  him  with  reference  to 
his  coming  to  Spring  Arbor  to  reconstruct  and  put 
the  school  buildings  in  suitable  repair.  Brother 
Ransom  came  on  and  the  two  buildings,  one  for 
chapel  and  recitation  rooms  and  the  other  for  a 
boarding  hall,  were  put  in  condition,  and  Brothers 
Roberts  and  LaDue  formally  dedicated  the  property 
to  the  Lord  in  the  interest  of  Christian  education. 

We  had  removed  to  Spring  Arbor  and  rented  a 
house  while  our  house  was  in  process  of  erection. 
Needing  some  lumber,  I  engaged  a  man  with  a  team 
to  go  to  Jackson  and  haul  it  for  me  to  Spring  Arbor. 
I  went  with  the  man  and  team  to  Jackson,  where  I 
was  to  take  the  train  to  attend  one  of  my  quarterly 
meetings.     Going  to  the  lumber  yard,  I  selected  the 


202      ,  Reminiscences  of 

lumber,  saw  it  loaded  on  to  the  wagon,  when  the 
horses,  being  frightened  by  the  blowing  of  the  noon 
whistle  of  the  planing  mill,  started  to  run.  Springing 
to  the  head  of  the  off  horse  I  grasped  him  by  the  bit 
and  undertook  to  stop  the  team,  but  they  were  run- 
ning with  such  force  that  I  was  dashed  into  a  pile  of 
stones.  My  head  was  badly  cut  and  two  wheels  of 
the  heavily-loaded  wagon  passed  over  my  right  leg, 
breaking  both  bones  just  above  the  ankle.  For  a 
short  time  I  was  unconscious,  and  when  conscious- 
ness returned  I  found  myself  bolstered  up  in  a  chair 
in  the  office  of  the  lumber  yard.  Looking  across  the 
street  I  saw  a  hotel,  and  told  them  to  take  me  over 
there.  A  surgeon  was  summoned,  who  soon  reduced 
the  fractures  and  said  if  I  wished  to  reach  Spring 
Arbor  I  had  better  go  at  once.  A  two-seated  carriage 
was  secured,  and  encased  in  cushions,  with  my 
broken  limb  resting  on  the  front  seat,  I  was  taken 
to  my  home,  where,  placed  on  the  bed,  I  was  made  as 
comfortable  as  the  circumstances  would  allow. 

Before  leaving  home  that  morning  I  told  my  wife 
that  I  had  so  many  quarterly  meetings  to  hold  and 
so  many  camp-meetings  to  attend,  besides  looking 
after  the  repairs  on  the  school  buildings,  that  I  did 
not  know  how  I  was  to  get  through  with  it  all;  but 
before  sundown  I  found  myself  providentially  called 
aside  to  rest  awhile. 


Early  Free  Methodism  203 

We  had  but  recently  moved  into  the  house  we 
were  occupying  and  were  hardly  settled,  but  that 
morning  the  children  had  put  up  some  scripture 
mottoes  on  the  wall.  Lying  there  on  the  bed,  I 
began  to  muse  on  my  condition.  My  expenses  at 
the  hotel  and  carriage  hire  had  taken  all  my  money 
but  a  little  loose  change  in  my  pocket.  I  said  to  my 
wife,  "Here  we  are,  living  in  a  rented  house  with  no 
fuel  and  but  little  provision  and  I  flat  on  my  back 
with  a  broken  leg."  Just  then  I  looked  up  to  the 
motto  on  my  right  and  read:  "But  godliness  with 
contentment  is  great  gain.  For  we  brought  nothing 
into  this  world,  and  it  is  certain  we  can  carry  nothing 
out.  And  having  food  and  raiment  let  us  be  there- 
with content"  (i  Tim.  6:  6,  and  7:  8).  Then  as  my 
mind  went  back  over  the  work  I  could  think  of  a 
good  many  who  would  sympathize  with  me  in  my 
affliction  and  of  some  who,  on  account  of  our  radical 
principles,  might  rejoice;  when,  turning  my  eyes  to 
the  wall  on  the  left,  I  read:  "But  I  say  unto  you, 
love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do 
good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which 
despitefuUy  use  you  and  persecute  you"  (Matt  5: 

43.  44). 

Before  the  day  closed  an  infidel  brought  a  load  of 
wood,  and  neighbors  who,  to  designate  me  from 
other  elders  who  had  moved  in,  already  began  to 


204  Reminiscences  of 

speak  of  me  with  special  emphasis  on  the  definite 
article  as  the  elder,  saw  that  all  our  needs  were  sup- 
plied. 

For  three  months  the  Lord  very  clearly  demon- 
strated that  he  could  carry  on  the  work  without  my 
assistance,  and  further  that  he  could  support  me  and 
mine  just  as  easily  as  though  I  were  bustling  around 
loaded  down  with  care  and  anxiety.  Every  mail 
brought  remittances,  and  I  told  those  who  came  in 
to  see  me  that  I  was  lying  flat  on  my  back  and  re- 
ceiving the  pay  of  a  congressman. 

For  several  months  I  was  confined  to  my  bed. 
Money  came  from  parties  of  whom  I  had  never  be- 
fore heard,  one  of  these  being  a  wealthy  coal-dealer 
living  near  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania.  I  afterwards 
entered  into  correspondence  with  him,  and  the  way 
opened  for  an  extensive  revival  in  the  city  where 
this  gentleman  resided. 

Our  little  house  completed,  we  moved  into  it,  I 
being  carried  on  a  litter.  At  the  dedication  of  the 
school  buildings,  being  anxious  to  attend,  four  or  five 
of  the  brethren  took  me  on  a  lounge  to  the  Sunday 
dedication  service.  It  was  a  high  day.  Rev.  B.  T. 
Roberts,  Rev.  Thomas  S.  LaDue  and  Rev.  Lewis 
Bailey  were  present  and  took  part  in  the  exercises. 
I  paid  rather  dearly,  however,  for  the  pleasure  of 
attending  these  exercises,  for  I  took  a  severe  cold. 


Early  Free  Methodism  205 

which  brought  on  neuralgia  of  the  heart,  and  for  a 
time  I  stood  in  the  very  gates  of  death.  At  times 
the  pain  became  so  severe  that  I  could  not  lie  in  bed 
but  had  to  be  lifted  out  into  a  sitting  posture  in  a 
chair.  By  leaning  forward  in  the  paroxysms  of  pain 
the  pressure  on  my  wounded  limb  turned  the  sole  of 
my  foot  completely  up  to  one  side.  The  surgeon 
had  to  be  called  to  wrench  my  foot  back  into  posi- 
tion, which  proved  to  be  a  painful  operation.  I  be- 
came so  feeble  that  the  physician  could  give  no  hope 
of  my  recovery.  Sister  Hart  called  mightily  on  the 
Lord,  and  a  company  of  saints,  Brother  and  Sister 
Gitchell  among  them,  besieged  the  throne  of  grace 
and  by  prayer  and  faith  prevailed. 

One  night  when  I  was  at  the  very  lowest  I  had, 
to  me,  a  remarkable  vision.  I  seemed  to  be  in  the 
eternal  world,  when  all  at  once  I  was  surrounded  by 
clouds,  which  formed  a  vast  amphitheater.  The 
clouds  were  arched  above,  and  below  was  a  deep, 
dark  pit  in  which  demons  were  raging  in  boisterous 
strife.  It  seemed  to  me  that  no  power  could  quell 
them.  Just  then  I  heard  the  words,  "I  am  the  high 
and  holy  one  who  inhabiteth  eternity."  Looking  up 
to  the  arched  clouds,  I  saw  a  bright  being  whom  I  at 
once  recognized  as  the  Son  of  God.  As  I  gazed 
upon  him,  with  an  air  of  authority  he  waved  his  hand 
and  the  demons  seemed  to  skulk   away  in   sullen 


2o6  Reminiscences  of 

wrath.  The  vision  so  impressed  my  mind  that  I 
could  never  after  doubt  the  authority  and  controlling 
power  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  next  morning 
when  the  doctor  came  in  I  told  him  how  wonderfully 
the  Lord  had  blessed  me  and  how  much  better  I  felt 
in  soul  and  body.  The  dear  old  man  was  so  affected 
he  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do,  but  seemed  dis- 
posed to  leave  the  case  in  the  Lord's  hands.  From 
that  time  my  recovery  was  quite  rapid. 

The  conference  in  the  fall  of  1873  was  held  at 
Saint  Johns,  Michigan.  I  was  not  able  to  attend,  the 
only  instance  in  all  my  work  as  a  Free  Methodist 
minister  that  I  have  not  attended  the  session  of  an 
annual  conference.  My  father,  who  had  built  and 
stocked  a  store  at  Spring  Arbor,  was  sent  as  dele- 
gate and  informed  the  conference  of  my  critical  con- 
dition, but  that  the  Lord  had  wonderfully  blessed 
me,  so  the  brethren  ventured  to  elect  me  to  the 
chairmanship  once  more. 

Judge  Gridley,  of  Jackson,  drew  up  the  articles  of 
association,  the  incorporation  was  duly  formed  and 
trustees  elected,  and  we  were  ready  for  the  selection 
of  teachers  and  session  of  school.  I  had  the  general 
oversight  of  the  institution,  the  burden  of  finances, 
securing  teachers,  etc.,  all  devolving  upon  me. 
Joseph  Jones,  the  well-to-do  farmer  who  greeted 
Mrs.  Hart  and  myself  so  cordially  on  our  first  visit 


Early  Free  Methodism  207 

to  Michigan,  had  a  family  of  four  or  five  sons  and 
three  daughters.  The  chief  characteristic  with  most 
of  these  was  an  all-prevailing  determination  for  a 
higher  education.  Clark  and  Frank  at  the  time  of 
our  advent  were  devoting  their  time  to  study  prepar- 
ing themselves  to  enter  the  state  university  at  Ann 
Arbor.  During  our  first  winter  in  the  state  we  held 
a  series  of  evening  meetings  in  the  schoolhouse  in 
the  Jones'  neighborhood.  Our  afternoon  meetings 
were  held  in  the  spacious  kitchen  of  the  Jones'  resi- 
dence. 

During  one  afternoon  meeting  we  were  startled 
by  a  loud  knock.  Father  Jones  opened  the  door, 
when  one  of  his  sons,  who  was  standing  there,  said 
excitedly,  "A  man  is  lying  in  the  old  deserted  log 
house  over  by  the  railroad  track,  and  he  says  this  is 
the  ninth  day  he  has  been  there  without  food  or 
water,  and  I  have  come  for  help  to  get  him  away." 
Several  of  the  brethren  went  with  him  and  found  the 
poor  man  nearly  exhausted  from  cold  and  hunger. 
They  knew  by  the  snow  which  had  fallen  that  the 
man  must  have  been  there  for  at  least  nine  days. 
Bringing  the  man  over  to  the  house  of  Brother  Jones 
a  bed  was  prepared  for  him  near  the  kitchen  stove, 
and  we  began  to  administer  to  his  needs.  He  begged 
piteously  for  water.  I  told  him  we  were  giving  it  to 
him  as  we  thought  he  could  bear  it.     Looking  up  in 


208  Reminiscences  of 

my  face  he  said,  "Don't  you  know  that  three-fourths 
of  the  human  system  is  fluid?  I  could  take  a  gallon 
of  water  into  my  stomach  and  it  would  immediately 
be  diffused  through  my  body  and  would  do  me  no 
harm;  give  me  water."  We  gave  him  nourishment, 
and  as  he  gained  strength  I  inquired  how  he  came  to 
go  into  the  old  deserted  log  house.  He  replied,  "I 
had  a  school  of  young  men,  but  the  war  breaking  out 
my  pupils  enlisted  and  my  occupation  was  gone,  and 
I  started  out  to  tramp  through  the  country.  Walk- 
ing down  the  railroad  track  I  became  thoroughly 
discouraged,  and  turned  into  the  old  log  house  to 
die."  I  asked  him  what  his  sensations  were  while 
there.  He  answered,  "For  the  first  few  days  I  was 
very  hungry,  but  this  passed  off,  and  there  came  on 
an  intolerable  thirst.  Water  was  the  thought  both 
in  my  sleeping  and  waking  dreams.  When  awake  I 
would  build  air  castles,  and  I  thought  if  I  were  rich 
I  would  build  me  a  mansion,  lay  out  my  grounds, 
and  in  the  midst  I  would  have  a  fountain  of  pure, 
sparkling  water  bubbling  up.  And  I  thought  I  would 
sit  with  a  cup  in  my  hand  and  drink,  and  forever 
drink."  I  thought  how  true  to  nature  were  the 
words  of  the  blessed  Master  when  he  said,  "Blessed 
are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteous- 
ness, for  they  shall  be  filled"  (Matt.  5:  6).  First 
there  comes  the  hunger,  and  as  this  passes  off  there 


Early  Free  Methodism  209 

comes  on  an  intolerable  thirst,  expressive  of  a  desire 
which  in  its  intensity  overtops  every  other  desire; 
then  comes  the  filling. 

The  poor  man's  feet  were  so  badly  frozen  that 
they  had  to  be  partly  amputated.  This  man  re- 
mained with  Brother  Jones  and  became  tutor  to  his 
two  sons,  Clark  and  Frank. 

Clark  soon  entered  the  university,  was  graduated 
with  honors,  and  when  Brother  Roberts  wrote  re- 
questing him  to  act  as  principal  of  Chili  seminary  I 
wrote  Brother  Roberts  that  Brother  Jones  was  only 
loaned.  So  when  we  were  ready  to  open  our  semi- 
nary Brother  Jones  came  on  and  took  charge.  As 
assistants  he  had  Miss  Johnson,  Miss  Davenport, 
Miss  Shepard,  with  D.  S.  Arnold  as  professor  of 
music.  Miss  Johnson  died  some  years  ago  in  Illi- 
nois. Miss  Davenport  is  now  Mrs.  J.  Craig,  her  hus- 
band being  a  former  student  of  the  seminary  and  for 
several  years  a  successful  traveling  preacher.  At 
this  writing  he  is  pastor  of  our  church  at  Kalamazoo, 
Michigan.  Miss  Shepard  became  the  wife  of  a  mis- 
sionary to  Bulgaria.  They  spent  several  years  in  the 
foreign  field,  but  at  present  I  believe  are  laboring  in 
the  Michigan  conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church. 

Brother  Jones  labored  successfully  for  years  as 
principal  of  the  seminary,  but  finally  gave  up  the 


210  Reminiscences  of 

position  and  turned  his  attention  to  farming.  After 
the  death  of  his  estimable  companion  he  engaged  in 
teaching  in  Wisconsin.  At  this  writing  he  is  pro- 
fessor of  languages  in  the  Spring  Arbor  seminary. 
Brother  Arnold  spent  several  years  in  "The  Arnold 
School  of  Music,"  in  Chicago,  but  at  this  time  is  a 
successful  professor  of  music  in  the  Holiness  college 
at  Greenville,  Texas. 

Clark  Jones  held  the  position  of  principal  of  the 
school  until  he  saw  a  a  fine  three-story  brick  build- 
ing erected;  then  resigned  and  left  the  work  to  oth- 
ers. The  seminary  has  proved  a  great  blessing. 
Scores  of  young  people  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
have  received  a  liberal  education  and  been  fitted  for 
positions  of  honor  and  profit  who,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  school,  could  never  have  had  these  advan- 
tages. I  call  to  mind  a  notable  case.  A  lady  in  San 
Francisco,  California,  who  with  her  husband  had 
been  a  missionary,  the  husband  having  died,  she  had 
an  intense  desire  to  do  the  best  she  could  for  her 
boys.  She  wanted  to  save  them  from  being  thrown 
into  the  class  which  on  the  coast  are  denominated 
"hoodlums."  Consulting  with  Rev.  W.  D.  Bishop, 
of  the  Seamen's  Bethel,  he  advised  her  to  send  them 
to  Spring  Arbor,  Michigan.  The  good  woman 
brought  them  on  and  placed  them  in  the  seminary, 
at  that  time  under  the  supervision  of  Professor  Cal- 


Early  Free  Methodism  211 

land.  The  boys  were  a  little  wild  at  first,  but  were 
soon  brought  to  the  recognition  of  proper  authority 
and  obedience  to  wholesome  discipline. 

We  finally  removed  to  Alameda,  California.  We 
had  entirely  lost  track  of  these  boys,  and  for  twenty 
years  had  heard  nothing  of  them,  when  one  day  we 
saw  a  very  fine  painting  on  exhibition  in  the  window 
of  one  of  the  drug  stores  of  our  city.  Down  in  the 
corner  we  noticed  A.  Cederholme  as  the  name  of  the 
artist,  and  upon  inquiry  learned  that  this  was  Adolph 
Cederholme,  a  son  of  the  widow  mentioned  above. 
As  soon  as  he  heard  of  our  whereabouts  he  gave  us 
a  call.  He  was  delighted  to  recall  the  experiences 
of  his  school  days  at  the  seminary.  He  said  he 
never  should  cease  to  be  thankful  for  the  principles 
inculcated,  and  for  the  training  he  received  while 
there.  He  informed  us  that  he  and  his  brothers  had 
contracted  no  bad  habits,  that  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  and  that  his  elder  brother 
had  died  in  holy  triumph  and  gone  to  heaven.  He 
laughed  heartily  as  he  recalled  the  lively  meetings 
and  the  earnest  testimonies  of  some  of  the  more  en- 
thusiastic brethren.  One  brother  would  exclaim,  "I 
was  born  on  the  field  of  battle,"  and  another,  "I  like 
my  spiritual  provender  warm,"  and  one  old  brother 
was  ever  calling  on  the  Lord  for  "the  'rale'  fire." 
Our  schools  are  doing   a  grand   work.     These 


212  Reminiscences  of 

early  impressions  are  lasting  impressions,  and  these 
hallowed  influences  are  moving  out  in  ever-widening 
circles  for  truth  and  righteousness. 


Early  Free  Methodism  213 


CHAPTER  XX. 

In  the  early  winter  of  1873  I  had  so  far  recovered 
from  my  injuries  that  I  was  able  to  start  out  once 
more  on  district  work.  We  labored  for  some  ten 
weeks  in  a  meeting  at  Jackson,  Michigan.  We  used 
an  old  Baptist  church,  At  first  our  congregations 
were  small,  and  I  told  my  wife  I  would  like  to  have 
somebody  to  preach  to,  but  soon  the  house  became 
so  packed  that  we  hardly  knew  how  to  handle  the 
crowds  in  attendance.  During  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1874,  Brother  Roberts  made  us  a  call  and 
preached  several  times.  (See  Life  of  Roberts,  pages 
460,  461).  In  consulting  Brother  Roberts  with  refer- 
ence to  the  work  at  Jackson  I  told  him  we  had  sev- 
eral converts,  but  that  they  were  all  poor  and  we 
were  unable  to  build  a  church.  "Oh,"  said  Brother 
Roberts,  "it  is  a  good  thing  that  the  converts  are 
poor."  "How  so?"  I  inquired.  "Why."  said  he, 
"you  will  have  no  rich  man  to  look  to  and  you  will 
be  obliged  to  lean  on  the  Lord;  he  will  open  the 
way."  The  words  proved  to  be  prophetic.  The 
special  meetings  closed  and  we  organized  a  society, 
renting  the  old  Baptist  church. 


214  Reminiscences  of 

A  gentleman  of  wealth  by  the  name  of  Wilcox, 
who  had  removed  from  Syracuse,  New  York,  to  Jack- 
son, had  arranged  with  one  Professor  Stratton,  an 
old  friend,  for  an  anti-masonic  lecture  in  Jackson. 
The  old  gentleman  went  from  church  to  church  in  a 
fruitless  search  for  a  place  for  the  lecture.  Finally 
someone  told  him  of  the  Free  Methodist  people  who 
worshiped  in  the  old  Baptist  church.  He  looked  up 
the  pastor,  who  informed  him  he  was  welcome  to  the 
house  and  that  he  would  do  all  he  could  to  advertise 
the  lecture.  At  the  close  of  the  lecture  Mr.  Wilcox 
inquired  whether  our  people  owned  the  house  in 
which  they  worshiped.  When  informed  that  they 
did  not,  as  he  afterwards  told  us,  he  said  to  himself, 
"By  the  grace  of  God  and  what  little  means  I  have 
these  people  shall  have  a  house  of  worship  in  Jack- 
son;" and  ere  long  not  only  a  nice  church  but  a  com- 
fortable parsonage  as  well  was  ready  for  our  occu- 
pancy. 

The  conference  session  in  the  fall  of  1874  was 
held  at  Coopersville,  Michigan.  Brother  Terrill  was 
in  attendance.  He  preached  a  remarkable  sermon 
from  the  text,  "And  the  armies  which  were  in  heaven 
followed  him  upon  white  horses,  clothed  in  fine 
linen,  clean  and  white"  (Rev.  19:  14).  He  compared 
the  white  horses  to  right  principles  and  the  clean 
linen  to   righ't   experiences,  showing   first  that  we 


Early  Free  Methodism  215 

should  have  a  clean,  white,  personal  experience,  and 
second,  that  we  must  have  Bible  issues  of  righteous- 
ness.    He  warned  the  preachers  against  riding  non- 
sensical hobbies.     In  the  love-feast  Sunday  morning 
one  good  brother  arose  and  said,  "I  thank  the  Lord 
I  have  a  good  circuit  and  a  clean  shirt  (personal  ex- 
perience of  purity),  and  a  white  horse  (holy  princi- 
ples) to  ride."     This  session  immediately  preceded 
the  fourth  general  conference,  which  met  at  Albion, 
New  York.     During  the  session  Rev.  J.  A.  Wilson 
introduced  a  resolution  to  this  effect:  ''Resolved,  in 
case   the  general  conference  at  its  coming  session 
sees  fit  to  order  the  election  of  two  general  superin- 
tendents that  our  delegates  be  instructed  to  vote  for 
E.  P.  Hart  as  the  second."     I  thought  but  little  of 
this,  looking  upon  it  as  a  matter  of  compliment  on 
the  part  of  my  brethren.     I  knew  that  in  the  east 
there  were  older  and  better  qualified  men,  and  had 
no  thought  of  being  elected  to  that  important  and 
responsible  position.     Having  served  four  consecu- 
tive years  on  the  lower  district,  I  was  at  this  session 
appointed  to  the  Grand  Rapids  district.    B.  R.Jones 
was  appointed  to  the  districts  I  had  been  traveling. 
In    view   of   the   responsibility    Brother   Jones   was 
greatly   crushed,   and   for   a   time   it  was   doubtful 
whether  he  would  consent  to  accept  the  work.     But 
finally  the  encouraging  words  and  earnest  entreaties 


2i6  Reminiscences  of 

of  his  brethren  prevailed,  and  he  consented  to  assume 
the  duties  of  his  new  office. 

It  has  been  my  privilege  to  be  a  member  of  every 
general  conference  except  the  first.  This  convened 
at  Saint  Charles,  Illinois,  October  8,  1862,  and  con- 
tinued its  sittings  at  that  place  until  the  i6th,  when 
it  adjourned  to  meet  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  Novem- 
ber 4.  It  was  composed  of  ten  members  represent- 
ing three  annual  conferences,  the  Genesee,  the  Illi- 
nois, and  the  Susquehanna.  There  being  in  the 
minds  of  the  Genesee  delegation  some  doubt  as  to 
the  legality  of  the  organization  of  the  Susquehanna 
conference,  when  the  delegates  from  the  Susque- 
hanna conference  were  by  a  majority  vote  admitted 
to  seats,  the  Genesee  delegates  withdrew,  hence  the 
adjournment  to  Buffalo.  At  the  adjourned  session 
at  Buffalo,  as  neither  of  the  regular  delegates  from 
the  Genesee  conference  was  present,  the  reserve 
delegates  took  their  seats  and  the  conference  went 
on  with  the  business.  At  this  session  the  name  con- 
ventions, for  the  annual  and  general  meetings  of  the 
church,  was  changed  to  conferences.  Rev.  B.  T. 
Roberts  was  elected  general  superintendent  for  the 
ensuing  four  years.  The  general  conference  finally 
adjourned  on  Thursday,  the  7th  of  October. 

The  second  general  conference  convened  at  Buf- 
falo, New  York,  Tuesday,  October  10,  1866,  where 


Early  Free  Methodism  217 

its  sittings  were  continued  until  Saturday,  the  13th, 
when  it  adjourned,  to  meet  at  Albion,  New  York,  on 
Monday,  October  15,  where  it  continued  in  session 
until  Thursday,  the  i8th,  the  date  of  its  final  adjourn- 
ment. There  were  in  attendance  besides  the  general 
superintendent  eighteen  delegates,  representing  the 
following  annual  conferences:  The  Genesee,  Illinois, 
Susquehanna  and  Michigan.  There  being  no  objec- 
tion raised,  all  the  delegates  took  their  seats  and  the 
business  was  harmoniously  and  satisfactorily  dis- 
patched. A  committee  was  appointed  to  apply  to 
the  legislature  of  New  York  for  the  incorporation  of 
the  Free  Methodist  church.  The  committee  on 
superintendency  recommended  the  election  of  one 
general  superintendent,  and  Rev.  B.  T.  Roberts  was 
re-elected,  receiving  seventeen  of  the  eighteen  votes 
cast. 

The  third  general  conference  met  at  Aurora,  Illi- 
nois, on  Wednesday,  October  12,  1870,  and  finally 
adjourned  on  Thursday,  October  21.  This  session 
was  composed  of  the  general  superintendent  and 
twenty-nine  delegates  from  the  same  conferences 
represented  at  the  session  held  four  years  previous. 
At  this  session  the  general  superintendency  was 
placed  in  the  restrictive  rules;  also  the  following 
amendment  to  the  general  rules  was  carried:  After 
the  words,  "softness  and  needless  self-indulgence," 


2i8  Reminiscences  of 

on  page  31  of  the  Discipline,  add  the  words, 
"especially  chewing,  snuffing  or  smoking  tobacco  for 
the  gratification  of  a  depraved  appetite."  These 
changes  were  afterward  confirmed  by  the  required 
votes  of  the  annual  conferences  and  became  the  law 
of  the  church. 

J.  Mackey,  a  publisher  from  New  York  city  and 
a  lay  delegate  from  the  Susquehanna  conference,  at 
this  session  presented  a  proposition  to  assume  all  the 
liabilities  and  indebtedness  of  the  Free  Methodist 
paper,  and  Rev.  Levi  Wood,  the  former  proprietor 
and  editor,  signifying  his  willingness  to  accept  the 
offer  and  the  conference  pledging  unqualified  sup- 
port, the  transfer  was  made,  and  Joseph  Mackey,  of 
88  White  street.  New  York,  became  editor  and  pub- 
lisher of  the  church  paper.  The  committee  on 
superintendency  recommended  the  election  of  but 
one  general  superintendent,  and  Rev.  B.  T.  Roberts 
was  elected.  At  this  session  a  new  conference, 
called  the  Kansas  and  Missouri  conference,  was  not 
only  ordered  but  organized  as  well.  The  appoint- 
ments for  said  conference  were  made  by  the  general 
superintendent,  the  general  conference  ratifying  the 
appointments.  C.  H.  Lovejoy  was  made  chairman  of 
the  Northern  Kansas  and  Nebraska  districts,  and 
James  Mathews  chairman  of  the  Southern  Kansas 
and  Saint  Louis  districts. 


Early  Free  Methodism  219 

The  statistics  of  the  church  at  this  time  were  as 
follows:  Conferences,  5,  viz.:  Genesee,  Illinois,  Sus- 
quehanna, Michigan  and  Kansas;  number  of  preach- 
ers, 128;  number  of  members,  6556;  value  of  church 
property,  $234,700. 

On  October  ii,  1872,  at  the  Stone  schoolhouse 
near  Plymouth,  Cerro  Gordo  county,  Iowa,  the  Min- 
nesota and  Northern  Iowa  conference  was  organized. 
Superintendent  B.  T.  Roberts  presiding.  Rev.  T.  S. 
LaDue  was  elected  chairman  over  the  two  districts. 
The  number  of  members  was  160;  probationers,  47; 
total,  207. 

This  made  six  annual  conferences,  which  were  all 
represented  at  the  fourth  session  of  the  general  con- 
ference, which  convened  at  Albion,  New  York,  Octo- 
ber 14,  1874.  Brother  Roberts  and  several  of  the 
western  delegates  were  detained,  and  did  not  reach 
the  seat  of  conference  until  the  night  of  Wednesday, 
the  14th.  According  to  the  provisions  of  the  Disci- 
pline the  conference  was  to  convene  at  2  p.  m.  on 
Wednesday.  Brother  Roberts  not  having  arrived,  the 
delegates  present  were  in  a  quandary  as  to  the 
proper  course  to  pursue.  I  advised  that  we  proceed 
to  elect  a  president  pro  tem.  and  a  secretary,  and 
adjourn  to  the  following  morning.  Concluding  to 
follow  this  advice  the  conference  was  called  to  order, 
and  Rev.  E.  Owen,  a  ministerial  delegate  from  the 


220  Reminiscences  of 

Susquehanna  conference,  was  elected  president  pro 
tern,  and  I  was  elected  secretary.  We  then  adjourned 
to  meet  at  9  a.  m.  the  following  morning.  When 
Brother  Roberts  arrived  and  learned  what  had  been 
done  he  felt  greatly  grieved.  He  seemed  to  think 
the  conference  had  been  organized  in  order  to  sup- 
plant him.  Many  of  the  delegates  sympathized  with 
Brother  Roberts,  and  the  preacher  in  charge  at 
Albion  being  quite  outspoken  in  his  declaration  that 
E.  P.  Hart  was  responsible  for  the  action  taken,  some 
of  my  friends  were  disposed  to  censure  me  for  hav- 
ing taken  what  they  considered  a  wrong  course.  I 
told  them  I  had  done  what  I  believed  to  be  right, 
and  could  not  see  how  any  more  suitable  action  could 
have  been  taken.  I  inquired  what  course  they  would 
advise  under  such  circumstances,  and  after  looking 
the  matter  over  they  concluded  the  right  thing  had 
been  done,  and  at  this  session  the  latter  part  of  •[[  65, 
page  33,  of  the  present  edition  of  the  Discipline, 
which  reads,  "But  in  case  no  general  superintendent 
be  present  the  general  conference  shall  elect  by  ballot 
an  elder  as  president  pro  tem.,"  was  added. 

At  this  session  I  was,  to  my  surprise,  elected  as 
junior  general  superintendent.  I  was  surprised  be- 
cause there  were  so  many  who  by  natural  and  ac- 
quired ability  were  so  vastly  my  superiors.  I  should 
have  thought  that  anyone  of  a  dozen  or  more  who 


Early  Free  Methodism  221 

were  members  of  that  body  would  have  been  chosen; 
but  as  the  vote  was  declared,  if  I  remember  aright, 
Brother  Roberts  received  the  entire  vote  of  the  con- 
ference and  I  received  54  out  of  the  57  votes  cast. 

At  the  session  of  my  conference  held  a  few 
weeks  before  I  had  been  elected  chairman  of  the 
Grand  Rapids  district.  Appointing  S.  Roberts  as 
chairman  of  the  above  district,  and  looking  to  the 
Lord  for  grace  and  help,  I  began  at  once  to  arrange 
to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  my  new  position. 


222  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Previous  to  my  election  to  the  superintendency  I 
had  attended  meetings  in  Pennsylvania.  My  in- 
troduction into  that  part  of  the  work  was  through 
Brother  Clifford  Barrett.  He  was  quite  a  unique 
character,  having  for  years  previous  to  his  conversion 
been  a  reckless  raftsman  on  the  Allegheny  river. 
With  a  pack  of  cards  in  one  pocket  and  a  bottle  of 
whisky  in  the  other,  he  was  ever  ready  for  any  wild 
adventure  in  which  these  rough  men  might  engage, 
but  the  transforming  power  of  grace  had  so  changed 
him  that  with  all  his  natural  enthusiasm  sanctified  he 
engaged  in  the  work  of  the  Lord  with  all  the  earnest- 
ness which  had  characterized  his  intercourse  with 
the  lumbermen  of  the  Allegheny  valley.  Brother 
Barrett  had  attended  several  of  my  camp-meetings  in 
Michigan,  and  was  anxious  to  have  me  attend  some 
of  the  meetings  in  Pennsylvania.  He  invariably  re- 
ferred to  me  as  "the  reformed  lawyer,"  and  as  quite 
a  number  of  that  class  were  sadly  in  need  of  refor- 
mation, when  I  was  advertised  for  the  camp-meeting 
near  Franklin,  Pennsylvania,  in  August,  1873,  a  gen- 
eral curiosity  to  see  and  hear  a  reformed  lawyer  was 


Early  Free  Methodism  223 

awakened.  On  Sunday  afternoon  I  preached  from 
the  words,  ''For  he  endured  as  seeing  him  who  is  in- 
visible" (He.  11:  27);  and  on  Monday  from  John 
15,  17.  I  realized  special  help,  and  the  Lord,  to 
some  degree  at  least,  gave  me  favor  in  the  eyes  of 
the  people  and  access  to  their  hearts.  Brother  B.  T. 
Roberts  was  present  and  preached  with  great  unc- 
tion and  freedom.  A  young  local  preacher  from  the 
Allegany  district  of  the  Genesee  conference  was 
present,  and  was  held  in  especial  esteem  by  all  who 
had  the  pleasure  of  forming  his  acquaintance  and 
listening  to  his  expositions  of  the  word.  At  the  ses- 
sion immediately  following  he  was  received  on  trial 
by  the  annual  conference.  He  has  since  become 
very  generally  and  favorably  known  throughout  the 
denomination,  having,  I  believe,  filled  about  every 
position  from  janitor  up  to  the  general  superintend- 
ency.  As  chairman  of  the  district  Rev.  R.  W.  Haw- 
kins had  charge  of  the  meeting,  which  proved  to  be 
one  of  great  power  and  success.  J.  B.  Corey,  of 
Braddock,  Pennsylvania,  the  wealthy  coal  dealer  re- 
ferred to  in  a  former  chapter,  was  present,  and 
at  his  urgent  request  I  arranged  to  accompany  him 
home.  In  the  erection  of  a  new  school  building  at 
Braddock  Brother  Corey  had  induced  the  directors 
to  put  up  an  additional  story,  and  this  room  he  had 
seated  with  chairs,  providing  for  the  accommodation 


224  Reminiscences  of 

of  a  congregation  of  six  hundred  or  more.  Here  I 
preached  one  Sabbath,  with  the  promise  of  a  speedy 
return  to  hold  a  series  of  meetings. 

On  my  arrival  home  I  made  provision  for  my  dis- 
trict work,  and  my  wife  and  myself  went  to  Braddock 
to  engage  in  a  protracted  effort.  We  had  large  con- 
gregations. The  hall  would  be  packed  to  its  utmost 
capacity,  with  a  crowd  in  the  street  unable  to  gain 
admission.  In  time  of  prayer,  according  to  the  pre- 
vailing custom  in  that  section,  everyone  would  kneel 
as  certainly  as  they  would  stand  in  time  of  singing. 
Undoubtedly  each  posture  with  the  majority  was  a 
mere  matter  of  form,  but  with  a  congregation  of 
hundreds  all  kneeling  in  time  of  prayer  there  is  at 
least  a  show  of  reverence.  Brother  Corey  had  a 
large  number  of  men  working  in  a  coal  mine  near  by. 
These  were  punctual  in  their  attendance  on  the  meet- 
ings, and  many  of  them  were  soundly  converted. 
The  irrepressible  Barrett  was  on  hand  and  was  effi- 
cient in  prayer,  testimony  and  labor  with  seekers. 
In  afternoon  meetings  while  the  miners  were  work- 
ing in  the  coal  shaft  Brother  Barrett  would  earnestly 
call  on  the.  Lord  to  bless  the  boys  in  the  pit.  He 
would  sometimes  bound  up  in  meeting  and  exclaim, 
"I  am  going  through  clickety  click  with  the  glory  in 
my  soul."  As  a  result  of  the  meeting  a  large  class 
was  organized,  and  for  years  the  blessing  of  the  Lord 


Early  Free  Methodism  225 

attended  the  work;  but  finally,  through  Satanic  in- 
fluence, distraction  and  division  came  in  and  some 
honest  souls  were  drawn  aside.  However,  by  the 
untiring  efforts  of  Brother  Barnhart  and  a  few  faith- 
ful ones  a  fine  church  property  has  been  secured,  and 
the  work  is  in  general  favor  with  the  people. 

On  my  way  to  the  general  conference  of  1874,  f 
spent  one  Sabbath  at  Braddock  and  made  my  way 
on  to  Albion,  New  York,  to  the  general  conference 
session.     At  the  session  of  the  Illinois  conference 
held  at  Winnebago,  Illinois,  October  1-6,  1873,  Rev. 
Joseph  Travis  was  elected  as  delegate  to  attend  the 
National  Christian  Convention   Opposed   to  Secret 
Societies.     This  convention   met   in    May,   1874,  at 
Cincinnati,  Ohio.     Among  the  delegates  in  attend- 
ance was  one  John  M.  Rounds  and  a  Doctor  Taylor. 
They  were  from  Summerfield,  Noble  county,  Ohio. 
They  had  never  before  heard  of  the  Free  Methodist 
church,  but  becoming  acquainted  with  Brother  Travis 
and  finding  this  to  be  a  young  and  growing  denom- 
ination,  they  were   extremely   anxious    that   some 
representative  man  should  visit  their  place  and  finally 
persuaded  Brother  Travis  to  accompany  them  home. 
He  held  some  meetings  at  Summerfield  and  organ- 
ized a  small  class.    As  he  was  at  that  time  chairman 
of  the  Central  and  the  Iowa  districts  in  the  Illinois 
conference,  and  feeling  that  his  home  work  demanded 


226  Reminiscences  of 

his  attention,  he  referred  these  people  to  me  and  re- 
turned to  Illinois.  So  sanguine  were  they  of  success 
they  at  once  set  about  building  a  house  of  worship. 
They  kept  urging  me  to  pay  them  a  visit,  but  as  my 
time  was  fully  occupied  I  was  not  able  to  respond  to 
their  call  until  the  fall  of  1874.  On  my  return  from 
the  session  of  the  general  conference  of  that  year  I 
began  to  plan  for  a  winter  campaign.  I  finally  de- 
cided to  make  Braddock,  Pennsylvania,  my  objective 
point,  but  concluded  to  go  by  the  way  of  the  cities 
of  Attica,  Lawrenceburg  and  Aurora,  Indiana,  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  and  then  to  take  in  Summerfield  on 
my  way  back  to  Braddock. 

Rev.  C.  S.  Gitchell  had  held  a  successful  meeting 
at  Attica,  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a  strong 
society.  He  bought  a  lot,  with  a  large  brick  house, 
which  made  a  fine  parsonage.  He  also  built  a  fine 
brick  church,  at  that  time  one  of  the  best  in  the  de- 
nomination. 

Mrs.  Hart  and  myself  started  out  on  our  contem- 
plated tour.  Stopping  first  at  Attica,  I  dedicated 
the  church,  and  we  continued  the  meeting,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  salvation  of  a  number  of  souls.  From 
Attica  we  went  on  to  Lawrenceburg,  Indiana,  also 
visiting  Aurora,  a  town  near  by.  Rev.  W.  James  was 
pastor  at  these  points.  The  work  here  never  seemed 
to   take   very  deep  root,  and  I   presume  hardly  a 


Early  Free  Methodism  227 

vestige  of  it  remains,  From  these  places  we  went  on 
up  the  river  to  Cincinnati.  Here  we  found  a  small 
class  who  worshiped  in  a  hall.  They  were  of  the 
extremely  radical  type,  and  when  persons  who  were 
not  up  to  their  idea  in  dress,  etc.,  attended  their  ser- 
vices, they  were  sure  to  denounce  them  in  a  harsh, 
discourteous  manner.  This  they  called  "Turning  the 
hose  on  them."  As  a  result  they  were  not  troubled 
with  much  of  an  attendance  from  the  outside.  I 
preached  one  evening  here  to  a  small  congregation. 
From  the  "Life  of  Roberts"  I  notice  that  Brother 
Roberts  in  1872  visited  Cincinnati,  and  although 
something  was  accomplished  he  says,  "The  prospect 
here  does  not  look  encouraging.  I  advised  them  not 
to  continue  to  rent  the  church,  but  to  hold  prayer- 
meetings  in  private  houses."     (Page  419). 

From  Cincinnati  we  went  on  to  Quaker  City, 
.  Ohio,  en  route  to  Summerfield.  We  reached  Quaker 
City  late  at  night,  stopped  at  a  small  hotel,  and  on 
the  following  morning  took  the  hack  for  Summer- 
field,  some  fourteen  miles  to  the  south.  This  part  of 
Ohio  is  quite  broken,  being  diversified  by  hill  and 
dale  and  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  "the  Switzerland 
of  America."  We  reached  Summerfield  a  little  be- 
fore noon,  the  hack  driving  up  to  a  large  house 
standing  on  the  corner.  The  building  had  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  public  house,  and  as  we  were  ushered 


228  Reminiscences  of 

into  the  spacious  sitting-room  we  supposed  we  were 
stopping  at  a  hotel.  Dinner  being  announced,  we 
were  introduced  to  the  family,  and  learned  that  we 
were  in  the  hospitable  mansion  of  J.  M.  Rounds,  one 
of  the  men  who  met  Brother  Travis  at  the  conven- 
tion at  Cincinnati  and  by  whose  invitation  Brother 
Travis  had  visited  Summerfield.  Brother  Rounds 
was  formerly  from  Baltimore,  Maryland.  He  was  of 
about  average  height,  but  of  stout  build  and  quite 
fleshy.  He  was  a  whole-souled  man  of  the  truly 
hospitable  southern  type.  "Aunt  Martha,"  as  his 
wife  was  generally  called,  was  a  noble  woman  of  the 
domestic  kind,  who  could  cook  a  dinner  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  the  most  fastidious  palate.  They  had 
a  family  of  sons  and  daughters,  of  whom  but  one 
daughter,  Maggie,  was  at  this  time  living  at  home,  the 
others  having  gone  out,  with  families  of  their  own. 

We  reached  Summerfield  on  Friday.  We  were 
warmly  welcomed  by  Brother  Rounds,  Doctor  Taylor 
and  others  of  the  little  class  organized  by  Brother 
Travis.  As  I  have  before  stated,  these  dear  people 
were  so  confident  that  the  Free  Methodist  church 
was  the  one  of  their  choice  that  they  at  once  erected 
a  nice  chapel  in  which  to  worship  and  for  the  series 
of  meetings  which  they  expected  us  to  hold.  So 
general  was  the  expectation  of  a  revival  that  even 
the  unsaved  were  prophesying  a  remarkable  work  of 


Early  Free  Methodism  229 

grace.  Summerfield  at  this  time  being  some  miles 
from  the  railroad  and  not  in  direct  touch  with  the 
main  lines  of  travel,  and  the  people  through  marry- 
ing and  intermarrying  being  more  or  less  connected, 
they  were  unpretending  and  simple-hearted.  To- 
bacco-raising was  the  principal  industry.  Large 
tobacco  sheds  for  the  curing  and  storing  of  the 
weed  were  to  be  seen  on  every  hand. 

Doctor  Taylor,  who  was  a  man  of  more  than 
average  intelligence,  was  not  only  the  leading  physi- 
cian in  all  that  region,  but  a  local  preacher  of  marked 
preaching  ability.  But  as  a  medical  practitioner  he 
was  without  diploma,  and  as  a  preacher  without  ordi- 
nation. When  serving  as  a  private  in  the  war  of  the 
rebellion  the  officers  of  his  regiment,  discovering  his 
ability  both  as  a  physician  and  a  preacher,  decided 
to  have  him  installed  either  as  surgeon  or  chaplain 
to  the  regiment,  but  the  absence  of  both  diploma 
and  ordination  disqualified  him  for  either.  They 
considered  him  a  remarkable  but  rather  strange  char- 
acter. A  man  of  keen  perception  and  a  ready 
speaker.  Doctor  Taylor  was  the  champion  and  lead- 
ing spirit  in  the  anti-secret  movement  which  pre- 
vailed throughout  all  that  section.  The  persons  who 
sympathized  with  our  work  at  Summerfield  from  its 
very  beginning  were  persons  who  had  long  stood 
high  in  the  community. 


230  Reminiscences  of 

It  was  evident  that  the  Spirit  was  moving  on 
the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  everything  seemed 
favorable  for  a  deep  and  thorough  work  of  grace. 
We  were  announced  for  Saturday  at  1 1  a.  m.  and  7 
p.  m.,  and  for  the  Sabbath.  Our  further  stay  was 
contingent  on  the  providential  indications  and  the 
leadings  of  the  Spirit. 


Early  Free  Methodism  231 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

At  the  time  of  our  advent  Summerfleld  was  a  quiet 
little  country  hamlet,  and  any  incident  out  of  the 
ordinary  was  occasion  of  special  remark.  So  even 
our  coming  awakened  quite  a  degree  of  curiosity  and 
caused  a  good  deal  of  comment.  Soon  after  our 
arrival  Maggie  Rounds  called  across  the  yard  to  a 
neighbor  girl  and  said,  "The  new  preacher  and  his 
wife  have  come."  "Oh,"  was  the  response,  "have 
they?  Then  we  shall  know  what  the  latest  fashions 
are."  Miss  Rounds  afterwards  told  us  she  watched 
that  young  lady  that  Friday  evening  as  Sister  Hart 
in  her  plain  attire  entered  the  church,  and  on  her 
face  saw  plainly  depicted  a  look  of  mingled  merri- 
ment and  surprise.  Curiosity  drew  out  a  large  con- 
gregation, and  at  the  very  first  service  the  house  was 
crowded.  The  Lord  gave  especial  help  in  the  pres- 
entation of  the  word,  but  it  was  plainly  evident  that 
the  truth  was  coming  on  a  line  little  expected  by 
those  by  whose  invitation  we  were  there. 

Professor  Blanchard,  of  Wheaton  college,  had 
been  at  Summerfleld  and  delivered  several  addresses 
on  secretism,  and  the  expectation  seemed  to  be  that 


2^2  Reminiscences  of 

our  efforts  were  to  be  mainly  on  the  same  line,  so 
when  we  began  to  strike  down  on  deeper  fundamen- 
tal principles  even  these  zealous  opponents  of  Ma- 
sonry began  to  feel  they  had  something  to  do  aside 
from  applauding  and  cheering  on  this  new  champion 
of  their  cause. 

The  truth,  however,  took  hold,  and  from  the  very 
outset  conviction  settled  down  on  the  people.  By 
the  help  of  the  Spirit  I  insisted  on  the  necessity  of 
being  saved  from  all  sin,  and  as  tobacco-raising, 
curing  and  selling  was  the  leading  industry  and 
tobacco-using  the  general  practice,  I  spoke  kindly 
but  firmly  against  these  evils.  It  was  evident  the 
plow  was  going  deeper  than  had  been  anticipated, 
and  some  of  our  little  class  began  to  question  the 
wisdom  of  coming  out  so  plainly  against  this  Diana 
of  profit  and  pleasurable  gratification.  I  preached 
and  Sister  Hart  exhorted,  and  there  began  to  be  a 
visible  melting  and  endorsement  of  the  truth  by  out- 
siders. The  main  difficulty  seemed  to  be  with  our 
own  people.  They  were  being  reined  up  to  a  point 
of  decision  where  they  must  take  a  stand  either  for 
or  against.  It  was  a  crucial  test,  and  poor  Brother 
Rounds  on  Sabbath  evening,  as  after  the  service  we 
were  seated  by  the  grate  in  his  sitting-room,  gazed 
into  the  burning  embers,  and  with  a  long-drawn  sigh 
exclaimed,  "Well,  we  have  got  ourselves  into  a  pretty 


Early  Free  Methodism  235 

boat.  I  am  as  empty  as  a  barrel."  Doctor  Taylor 
afterwards  told  us  that  as  he  was  riding  his  horse  on 
his  round  of  professional  visitation  he  found  himself 
nervously  chewing  the  weed  and  vigorously  expecto- 
rating the  juice,  and  exclaiming,  "I  wish  Hart  hadn't 
come." 

On  Sabbath  I  touched  a  little  on  secretism,  giv- 
ing some  of  my  own  experience,  and  such  a  degree 
of  enthusiasm  was  awakened  that  the  shouts  drowned 
my  voice  and  I  had  to  stop  speaking  and  wait  for  the 
excitement  to  subside.  Then  as  I  swung  around  on 
to  the  tobacco,  in  the  oppressive  silence  I  had  to  stop 
and  quietly  remark,  "Brethren,  it  is  time  to  shout." 
Sister  Hart  and  I  talked  the  matter  over,  and  believ- 
ing it  would  be  pleasing  to  the  Lord  to  bring  things 
to  a  focus  finally  decided  to  announce  on  Sabbath 
that  our  stay  was  contingent  on  the  attitude  taken 
by  our  people  with  reference  to  raising,  selling  and 
using  tobacco.  So  at  the  Sabbath  service  I  gave  out 
that  at  1 1  a.  m.  the  following  day  we  would  gather  at 
the  church  and  decide  as  to  the  continuance  of  the 
meeting.  I  said  to  them:  "If  you  will  come  to  the 
teaching  of  the  word  of  God  as  interpreted  by  our 
book  of  Discipline  we  will  gladly  remain  and  assist 
in  the  meeting;  if  not,  we  shall  pack  up  our  baggage 
and  on  Tuesday  take  the  early  hack  for  the  station." 

Now  they  were  in  a  strait  betwixt  the  two.     On 


234  Retniniscences  of 

the  one  hand  was  the  humility  and  sacrifice  involved 
and  on  the  other  was  their  sense  of  right  and  the 
opinions  and  speech  of  the  people,  for  outsiders  were 
already  giving  endorsement  to  the  truth  and  proph- 
esying a  remarkable  revival.  We  had  no  fears  as  to 
to  the  outcome,  for  we  were  thoroughly  convinced 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  so  back  of  the  movement 
that  God's  will  would  prevail  and  a  deep  and  lasting 
work  of  saving  grace  be  realized. 

At  the  Monday  morning  service  I  talked  on  the 
Discipline,  and  as  plainly  as  I  could  set  forth  our 
distinctive  issues,  and  finally  said,  "Now  let  all  who 
are  determined  to  come  to  this  line  gather  around 
this  altar  and  consecrate  themselves  to  God  and  seek 
the  experience  of  a  clean  heart."  They  all  came  out 
and  earnestly  sought  the  Lord.  At  the  evening  ser- 
vice deep  solemnity  rested  on  the  congregation,  and 
when  the  invitation  for  seekers  was  given  the  altar 
was  crowded.  From  this  on  I  felt  perfectly  free  to 
preach  the  whole  truth,  and  the  success  of  the  meet- 
ing seemed  assured. 

With  each  succeeding  service  the  meeting  in- 
creased in  interest.  We  had  preaching  at  1 1  a.  m. 
and  7  p.  m.  The  people  were  unpretending  and  sim- 
ple-hearted, and  primitive  methods  prevailed.  From 
all  the  country  round  they  would  come  in  crowds, 
some  in  sleighs,  some  on  horseback  and  some  afoot. 


Early  Free  Methodism  235 

Women  with  a  child  before  and  one  behind  and  per- 
haps a  baby  in  arms  could  be  seen  astride  a  horse 
making  their  way  to  the  house  of  God.  The  church 
would  be  crowded  at  the  morning  service,  and  fre- 
quently the  meeting  of  the  morning  would  run  on 
without  intermission  to  the  hour  for  evening  preach- 
ing. Sister  Hart  and  I  would  slip  out  and  get  some 
refreshments  and  a  little  rest,  and  then  go  back  for  a 
renewal  of  the  conflict  at  the  evening  hour. 

Morning  and  evening  the  altar  would  be  crowded 
with  earnest  seekers.  As  seekers  came  forward  the 
brethren  and  sisters  would  take  the  ladies'  hats  and 
extra  wraps  and  hang  them  on  some  hooks  on  the 
wall  provided  for  the  purpose,  for  they  came  forward 
with  the  expectation  of  wrestling  till  victory  came. 
As  the  penitents  knelt  at  the  altar  and  began  to 
earnestly  cry  for  mercy  the  brethren  and  sisters 
would  all  stand  around  and  lustily  sing  almost  any 
hymn  or  song  that  might  come  to  mind,  but  invaria- 
bly the  selection  would  be  one  which  had  no  refer- 
ence whatever  to  the  case  of  the  seekers.  For  in- 
stance, with  an  altar  filled  with  struggling,  weeping 
penitents,  the  brethren  would  strike  up  and  at  the 
top  of  their  voices  sing,  "Shall  we  gather  at  the 
river?"  The  principal  object  of  the  singing  seemed 
to  be  to  drown  the  cries  of  the  seekers.  We  insisted 
strongly  on  submission  and  faith,  and  as  we  would 


236  Reminiscences  of 

strike  up  and  sing  some  appropriate  hymn  or  song 
the  people  for  a  while  supposed  that  these  were 
made  up  by  us  to  meet  the  demand  as  the  occasion 
required.  As  seekers  got  blessed  we  had  them 
stand  and  tell  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  them. 
This  was  altogether  new  in  the  manner  of  conducting 
meetings,  but  seeing  such  good  results  the  people 
readily  fell  in  with  our  methods.  Young  ladies  in 
the  midst  of  their  earnest  seeking  would  rise  from 
their  knees  and  rush  to  the  door  to  throw  away  their 
snuff-boxes,  for  many  of  them  were  snuff-dippers. 

Day  after  day  meetings  continued  from  11  a.  m. 
to  II  p.  m.,  and  the  slain  of  the  Lord  were  many. 
About  every  night  more  or  less  were  prostrated 
under  the  power  of  God,  who  would  be  taken  to 
their  homes  in  sleighs,  to  remain  unconscious  per- 
haps for  the  remainder  of  the  night.  The  footprints 
of  J.  B.  Finley  and  men  of  like  stamp  were  plainly 
visible  all  through  that  region,  and  there  were  many 
who  knew  how  to  prevail  with  God  in  prayer.  Billy 
Barnes,  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  a  man  of  large, 
robust  frame,  and  voice  almost  like  a  lion,  would 
place  his  right  hand  just  back  of  and  over  his  right 
ear,  and  in  stentorian  tones  sing  with  a  voice  loud 
enough  at  least  to  awaken  the  spiritually  dead. 
There  were  elect  ladies  whose  names  I  cannot  now 
recall  who  would  hold  on  to  God  in  earnest  prayer 


Early  Free  Methodism  237 

until  victory  came.  Jennie  H.,  an  intelligent  young 
lady,  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
came  to  a  Sabbath  afternoon  meeting.  She  was 
earnestly  seeking  the  experience  of  holiness,  and 
while  I  was  preaching  her  faith  struck  through,  and 
exclaiming,  "I  have  got  it!  I  have  got  it!"  she 
jumped  until  her  hair  fell  down  her  back  and  snapped 
almost  like  a  whip.  She  joined  our  class,  and  was 
afterwards  appointed  class-leader.  She  was  called, 
in  the  providence  of  God,  to  pass  through  the  sever- 
est tests,  but  the  last  I  knew  of  her  she  was  still 
standing  true. 

Demonstrations  were  nothing  new  in  that  section. 
It  was  customary  in  the  winter  to  "hold  a  big  meet- 
in',  take  a  shout,  and  jine  church."  But  this  meeting 
struck  deeper,  and  many  got  out  into  clear  and  last- 
ing experiences.  A  blacksmith  living  out  about  two 
miles  was  happily  converted.  About  two  weeks 
after,  as  on  Sabbath  morning  he  listened  to  a  sermon 
on  holiness,  he  was  greatly  exercised  in  spirit  and 
could  hardly  wait  for  the  sermon  to  close,  so  anxious 
was  he  to  ask  about  this  further  work  of  saving 
grace.  At  the  close  of  the  service  he  began  to  ply 
me  with  questions,  saying,  "Haven't  I  been  con- 
verted? Isn't  that  religion?  What  more  is  there?" 
I  replied,  "Come  to  the  afternoon  meeting,  brother, 
and  I  will  try  and  make  it  plain."     In  the  sermon  of 


238  Reminiscences  of 

the  afternoon  I  used  this  illustration:  "Suppose  you 
come  to  the  morning  meeting  and  get  blessed,  and 
start  home  feeling  wonderfully  well,  but  when  you 
reach  home  you  find  the  pigs  are  in  the  corn.  You 
undertake  to  drive  them  out,  but,  true  to  their  hog 
nature,  they  run  in  the  wrong  direction  and  you 
chase  them  around  for  an  hour,  how  do  you  feel 
about  it?  Of  course  a  justified  person  will  not  get 
mad,  but  how  do  you  feel  about  it?"  When  oppor- 
tunity was  given  to  speak,  the  brother  arose  and 
said,  "I  see  it;  I  have  this  religion  till  you  come  to 
driving  the  pigs  out  of  the  corn."  He  at  once  set 
about  seeking  the  cleansing  from  inward  sin. 

The  custom  in  that  section  had  been  to  open  the 
doors  of  the  cnurch  about  every  night  of  a  meeting, 
and  the  brethren  were  a  good  deal  concerned  because 
I  did  not  give  opportunity  for  the  converts  to  join. 
I  told  them  the  doors  of  our  church  were  ponderous, 
and  that  it  required  a  good  deal  of  effort  to  get  them 
open.  Finally,  however,  I  yielded  to  their  entreaties, 
and  gave  opportunity  to  unite  with  the  class.  I  do 
not  now  remember  the  number  who  joined,  but  at 
the  close  of  the  meeting  we  had  a  large  society  at 
Summerfield.  The  class  there  has  passed  through 
severe  testings,  some  have  moved  away,  many  have 
died,  and  some  on  one  pretext  or  another  have  with- 
drawn, but  the  candlestick  has  not  been  removed, 


Early  Free  Methodism  239 

and  the  things  which  remain  are  being  strengthened. 
At  different  times  we  held  meetings  at  several 
points  in  Noble  county.  At  Freedom,  a  small  place 
just  out  from  Summerfield,  we  had  a  successful  meet- 
ing. At  Mount  Tabor  I  dedicated  a  church,  also  one  at 
East  Union.  These  meetings  were  all  characterized 
by  the  same  spirit  of  simplicity  and  zeal  which  had 
been  so  prominent  in  the  meetings  at  Summerfield. 
At  East  Union  a  frail,  consumptive-looking  woman 
eame  to  the  penitent  form,  and  after  a  short  but 
earnest  struggle  came  through  into  glorious  liberty. 
In  perfect  time  to  the  lively  tune  being  sung  she 
bounded  up  one  aisle  and  down  the  other.  In  com- 
ing down  the  aisle  she  made  straight  for  a  young 
man  sitting  on  the  penitent  form,  and  sending  him 
heels  over  head  into  the  altar  made  for  me.  Conclud- 
ing that  discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valor,  I 
beat  a  hasty  retreat  and  took  refuge  behind  the  pul- 
pit. An  old  local  preacher  seeing  my  predicament 
rushed  to  my  aid,  and  grasping  the  woman  by  the 
hands  was  for  some  minutes  led  a  lively  dance  by 
the  frail  but  happy  sister.  Such  scenes  were  of  fre- 
quent occurrence,  and  seekers  were  expected  to 
come  out  into  the  light  with  shouts  and  manifesta- 
tions of  joy.  If  any  failed  in  this  it  was  something 
as  Booker  Washington  recently  said  about  seekers 
in  the  meetings  of  the  colored  people  of  the  south. 


240  Reminiscences  of 

Mr.  Washington  said:  "In  the  meetings  among  the 
colored  people  of  the  south  if  a  seeker  does  not 
come  through  shouting  and  praising  the  Lord  he  is 
looked  upon  with  suspicion  and  they  say  of  him, 
*I  reckon  he's  got  the  white  man's  religion.'"  One 
old  local  preacher  at  East  Union  had  the  reputation 
of  being  quite  a  theologian,  and  in  general  he  was 
quite  sound,  but  he  could  not  discern  between  fore- 
ordination  and  foreknowledge,  but  insisted  because 
God  foreknew  an  event  he  must  have  necessarily 
foreordained  it.  He  failed  to  see  that  with  a  being 
possessing  the  attribute  of  foreknowledge,  while  it 
would  be  impossible  for  him  to  foreknow  any  act  of 
his  own  without  predetermination  on  his  part,  he 
might  foreknow  an  act  of  another  without  any  per- 
sonal predetermination. 

Several  classes  were  organized  in  Noble  county, 
and  as  spring  was  opening  we  concluded  we  would 
return  home,  and  the  prospect  at  Lawrenceburg  and 
adjacent  points  in  Indiana  not  being  very  encourag- 
ing, I  sent  for  Brother  W.  H.  James,  who  was  preach- 
ing there,  and  he  came  on  and  was  duly  installed 
pastor  of  the  work  at  Summerfield  and  vicinity. 
J.  W.  Headly  and  wife  lived  on  a  farm  about  three 
miles  from  Perryopolis.  They  had  been  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  for  some  seven 
years.     Brother   Headly   held  a  license  as  a  local 


Early  Free  Methodism  241 

preacher.     This  worthy  couple  were  fully  up  to  the 
level  of  their  religious  surroundings,  but  knew  noth- 
ing of  the  experience  of  entire  sanctification,  indeed 
had  never  heard  a  sermon  definitely  on  the  subject. 
They  had' heard  of  the  people  called  Free  Method- 
ists, but  what  they  had  heard  did  not  give  them  a 
very  exalted  opinion  of  the  sect.     A  member  from 
Summerfield  went  over  to  -Perryopolis  and  engaged 
the  church  for  Brother  James  for  services  for  a  few 
days.     Brother  James   commenced  with  a  Sabbath 
service.    Brother  Headly  and  wife  were  at  the  meet- 
ing, and  the  sermon  on  holiness  was  entirely  new  to 
them  and  gave  them  food  for  reflection.     On  Mon- 
day morning    Brother   Headley  went   to   his   farm 
work,  but  Sister  Headley  went  to  the  meeting.     At 
night  when  his  wife  returned,  Brother  Headley  being 
anxious  to  know  about  the  meeting,  inquired  as  to  the 
results  and  was  told  that  two  of  their  members  had 
given  their  names  and  joined  the  new  class,  but  as 
these  were  not  considered  very  important  members 
Brother  Headley  said,  "All  right  we  can  spare  a  few 
more  of  that  kind."     On  Tuesday  Sister  Headley 
again   attended   the   meeting,  walking   three   miles 
each  way.     As  she  returned  at  night  her  husband 
found  her  crying.     He  inquired  how  it  went  at  the 
meeting  and  his  wife  replied,  "Sixteen  of  our  best 
members  went  to-day."   Brother  Headley  exclaimed, 


242  Reminiscences  of 

"Let  them  go."  Sister  Headley  went  on  to  say, 
"And  these  that  joined  want  us  to  join,  too."  Pretty 
thoroughly  stirred.  Brother  Headley  replied,  "No,  I 
will  go  to  the  Campbellites  before  I  will  join  them." 
But  by  Wednesday  morning  the  poor  m^n  was  so 
convicted  he  could  not  work,  and  concluded  he 
would  go  to  meeting  with  his  wife,  and  being  con- 
vinced that  the  work  was  right,  decided  not  to  be 
found  fighting  against  God,  he  began  earnestly  to 
seek  the  Lord.  The  meeting  closed  with  an  under- 
standing that  Brother  James  was  to  have  the  church 
to  preach  in  again  in  three  weeks.  When  at  the 
appointed  time  Brother  James  returned  he  found  the 
church  door  fastened  with  double  locks.  As  about 
four  hundred  people  had  gathered,  the  preacher 
knelt  on  the  church  steps  and  offered  a  short  prayer, 
and  preaching  a  short  sermon  gave  invitation  to  any 
who  might  desire  to  unite,  when  four  more  of  the  old 
class  joined,  Sister  Headley  being  of  the  number. 
In  the  fall  at  a  camp-meeting  held  near  Summer- 
field,  Brother  Headley  feeling  deeply  humbled  asked 
to  be  taken  in  on  probation.  Brother  Headley  was 
in  course  of  time  duly  licensed  and  finally  joined  the 
traveling  connection,  and  for  several  years  the  name 
of  J.  W.  Headley  has  appeared  in  the  conference 
appointments  as  district  elder. 


Early  Free  Methodism  243 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

For  the  first  two  years  after  my  election  to  the 
superintendency  my  labors  were  confined  to  the 
West.  My  first  experience  in  presiding  at  the  eastern 
conferences  was  in  the  fall  of  1876.  In  going  to  the 
older  part  of  the  work  I  felt  some  degree  of  embar- 
rassment, especially  as  I  had  but  a  partial  acquaint- 
ance with  either  the  work  or  the  people.  For  the 
first  time  I  presided  over  the  Genesee  eonference  at 
its  session  held  at  Parma  Center,  Monroe  county, 
New  York,  in  the  above  mentioned  year.  Here  were 
many  ministers  who  were  my  seniors  in  years  and 
vastly  my  superiors  both  in  natural  and  acquired 
ability.  Asa  Abell  was  living,  and,  although  feeble, 
was  in  attendance  at  this  session.  When  his  name 
was  called  and  he  had  given  his  report  someone 
struck  up  the  song  with  the  chorus, 

"O,  come,  angel  band,    *  * 
Bear  me  away  on  your  snowy  wings," 

when  a  Methodist  Episcopal  evangelist  by  the  name 
of  Tinkham  cried  out:  "Don't  sing  that.  I  have  just 
come  from  a  conference  where  a  lot  of  perfumed 
dude  preachers  were  singing  'Bear  me  away  on  your 


244  Reminiscences  of 

snowy  wings,*  and  it  made  me  sick.  Sing  for  this 
old  veteran  'Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  cross?*"  and  the 
conference  joined  heartily  in  singing  the  war  song. 
This  Brother  Tinkham  was  one  of  the  sympathizers 
with  our  work  in  those  days  of  ecclesiastical  restraint, 
but  never  received  the  help  Joseph  McCreery  boasted 
of,  "for/*  said  Joseph,  "I  got  so  I  could  run  through 
a  troop,  and  with  a  little  boosting  by  the  regency  I 
went  over  the  wall.'*  At  this  session  also  were 
Henry  Hornsby,  Levi  Wood,  John  Reddy,  S.  K.  J. 
Chesbro,  William  Manning,  O.  O.  Bacon,  Ichabod 
White  and  others  in  the  itinerancy;  and  among  the 
laity  were  such  men  as  George  Holmes,  Seth  Wood- 
ruff and  Velzy  and  Brainard  and  Brother  Bacon,  of 
Albion,  men  who  had  been  all  through  the  regency 
war,  and  who  in  the  time  that  tried  men's  souls  had 
stood  true  to  principles  of  righteousness.  To  step  in 
among  and  preside  over  such  veterans  as  these  was, 
for  a  comparatively  young  and  inexperienced  man, 
standing  under  a  great  load  of  responsibility.  But 
these  brethren  and  all  with  whom  I  came  in  contact 
were  so  considerate  and  so  kind  that  all  feeling  of 
embarrassment  quickly  passed  away,  and  I  felt  as 
much  at  ease  and  at  home  as  I  did  among  my  own 
brethren,  many  of  whom  had  been  raised  up  under  my 
own  labors  in  Michigan.  This  was  the  last  session 
of  conference  John  Reddy  was  permitted  to  attend. 


Early  Free  Methodism  245 

Soon  after  its  close  his  only  daughter  was  taken  with 
typhoid  fever,  and  earnestly  exhorting  her  father 
and  friends  to  meet  her  in  heaven,  passed  triumph- 
antly on  to  the  realms  of  light  and  life. 

Not  long  after  the  father  was  taken  down  with 
the  same  dread  disease.  The  only  regret  he  had  was 
that  he  had  not  been  more  zealous  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord,  and  exclaiming  to  some  ministerial  brethren 
standing  at  his  bedside,  "We  must  not  only  step  into 
every  open  door,  but  we  must  open  doors,"  entered 
into  his  eternal  reward. 

My  wife  and  I  went  on  to  the  sessions  of  the 
Susquehanna  and  New  York  conferences,  and  by  in- 
vitation of  James  Mathews  and  wife  spent  a  day  at 
the  great  Centennial  exposition  at  Philadelphia.  In 
the  summer  of  1877  we  attended  a  camp-meeting  at 
Salamanca,  New  York.  Brother  R.  W.  Hawkins  was 
chairman  of  the  Allegany  district,  and  had  charge  of 
this  meeting.  The  Metcalfs,  from  Rushford,  and 
many  others  of  the  charter  members  of  the  church 
in  that  section,  were  present.  A  slight  veering  from 
the  straight  line  of  the  established  doctrines  of  the 
gospel  had  already  begun  to  be  manifest,  and  my 
wife  and  I  stood  stoutly  for  the  old  doctrinal  land- 
marks, and  the  Lord,  greatly  to  the  encouragement 
of  the  older  members,  manifested  his  approval  by 
copious  outpourings  of  the  Holy  Spirit.    A  Brother 


246  Reminiscences  of 

Requa  was  appointed  to  preach  one  morning,  and 
as  he  arose  and  announced  and  began  to  read  the 
hymn  commencing  with  "He  dies  the  friend  of  sin- 
ners dies,"  there  was  such  an  unction  and  spirit 
attending  the  reading  that  the  preacher  was  obliged 
to  stop  and  open  the  way  for  weeping  penitents  who 
came  flocking  to  the  altar.  At  this  meeting  we  met 
a  widow  lady  by  the  name  of  Maxon,  whose  hus- 
band had  formerly  been  superintendent  of  the  sani- 
tarium at  Dansville,  New  York.  This  lady  was  at 
this  time  living  at  West  Randolph,  New  York.  She 
was  quite  urgent  in  requesting  us  to  go  to  West  Ran- 
dolph and  hold  a  series  of  meetings  in  the  Baptist 
church.  I  finally  told  her  if  she  would  secure  the 
written  consent  of  the  trustees  of  the  church  allow- 
ing us  the  use  and  exclusive  control  of  the  house  we 
would  some  time  during  the  coming  winter  visit  the 
place  and  hold  a  meeting.  We  gave  the  matter  but 
little  further  thought,  but  on  our  return  home  from 
our  round  of  fall  conferences  we  received  a  letter 
from  the  lady  enclosing  a  paper  duly  signed  by  the 
trustees  giving  consent  to  the  use  of  the  church. 
Having  promised  on  these  conditions  to  go  to  Ran- 
dolph, nothing  remained  but  to  make  preparations  to 
visit  the  place,  according  to  agreement.  As  winter 
came  on  we  wrote  on,  giving  date  of  our  arrival,  and 
in  due  course  of  time  found  ourselves  comfortably 


Early  Free  Methodism  247 

cared  for  in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Maxon,  and  ready  to 
begin  a  siege  in  the  Baptist  church.  It  seems  that 
some  years  before,  when  their  church  was  at  a  low 
ebb,  this  society  had  secured  the  services  of  Evan- 
gelist C.  D.  Brooks,  of  our  Genesee  conference, 
whose  labors  had  resulted  in  quite  a  number  of  con- 
verts and  accessions  to  their  organization.  I  became 
convinced  that  they  considered  that  Free  Methodist 
preaching  was  not  only  as  efficient  for  the  upbuilding 
of  the  church  as  any  other,  but  withal  fully  as  cheap 
as  to  expense,  and  that  these  considerations  had  a 
good  deal  to  do  with  their  willing  and  ready  consent 
to  our  use  of  their  house.  Seeing  this,  I  determined 
that,  as  far  as  I  was  able,  the  game  should  be  played 
for  keeps.  I  had  supposed  that  the  society  was 
without  a  pastor,  but,  to  my  surprise,  I  found  they 
had  a  duly  installed  shepherd.  I  have  forgotten  his 
name,  but  if  I  remember  aright  he  was  a  relative  of 
Rev.  E.  E.  Adams,  who  at  that  time  was  a  member 
of  our  Genesee  conference.  I  found,  also,  that  sev- 
eral Baptist  ex-elders  belonged  to  the  society.  West 
Randolph  was  at  this  time  a  rallying  point  for  the 
general  gatherings  of  atheists,  infidels  and  free  think- 
ers generally.  In  feeling  my  way  along,  to  the  great 
delight  of  my  Baptist  brethren  I  opened  up  along 
these  lines.  In  this  I  encountered  the  opposition  of 
the  infidels,  but  had  the  endorsement  of  the  Bap- 


248  Reminiscences  of 

lists.  But  finally  training  my  guns  to  a  closer  range 
and  doing  the  best  I  could  to  show  what  Bible  reli- 
gion is  and  what  it  does  for  men  and  what  it  causes 
men  to  do,  I  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  Baptists 
but  received  the  endorsement  of  the  infidels.  The 
Baptist  friends  were  espcially  chagrined  when  their 
pastor  made  his  way  to  the  altar,  declaring  he  did 
not  come  as  a  seeker  of  entire  sanctification,  but  to 
be  justified;  "for,"  said  he,  "how  can  I  be  justified 
when  I  have  failed  to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of 
God?"  To  add  to  the  discomfiture  of  the  Baptists, 
a  maiden  lady  with  some  means  and  richly  attired, 
who  was  a  leading  member  among  them,  came  to  an 
afternood  meeting  completely  stripped  for  the  race. 
Her  gold  gone,  her  high  bonnet  built  with  special 
reference  to  adornment,  with  dead  birds,  rags  and 
roses,  entirely  denuded,  in  appearance  justifying  her 
remarks  as  she  rose  to  testify  and  said,  "I  suppose 
you  think  I  look  as  though  a  hurricane  had  gone 
over  me."  The  opposition  became  more  and  more 
decided,  one  of  the  ex-elders  speaking  in  meeting 
one  evening,  referring  to  Sister  Hart's  happy  testi- 
monies, said,  "We  are  not  coming  here  to  be 
taught  by  a  light-hearted  woman."  And  now  there 
began  to  be  talk  of  closing  the  church  against  us. 
At  this  the  infidels  came  to  the  rescue,  declaring,  "If 
the  church  is  closed  we  will  get  the  largest  hall  in 


Early  Free  Methodism  249 

town  for  you."  Miss  Ella  Hapgood,  now  Mrs.  J.  S. 
McGeary,  was  teaching  school  and  living  at  Ran- 
dolph. She  was  a  member  of  our  church  and  stood 
nobly  by  the  work.  Among  those  saved  was  a  frail 
but  interesting  young  woman.  She  was  a  bright 
convert,  but  we  were  about  discouraged  when  we 
learned  she  was  engaged  to  a  young  man  who,  though 
upright,  was  an  avowed  Universalist,  and  who  be- 
longed to  a  Universalist  family.  When  we  learned 
of  the  marriage  of  this  young  lady  to  the  young  Uni- 
versalist we  gave  up  all  expectation  of  her  making  a 
success  of  trying  to  lead  a  religious  life.  But  judge 
of  our  joyful  surprise  when  we  learned  that,  instead 
of  being  influenced  to  give  up  her  religion,  she  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  her  husband  and  about  all  the  Uni- 
versalist family  not  only  to  her  way  of  thinking,  but 
to  her  way  of  living  as  well.  In  evidence  of  this  I 
adduce  the  fact  that  F.  E.  Glass  and  wife  have  for 
several  years  been  filling  appointments,  first  in  the 
Pittsburg  and  since  the  division  in  the  Oil  City  con- 
erence. 


250  Reminiscences  of 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

On  our  return  trip  from  Randolph  to  Michigan,  at 
the  earnest  solicitation  of  a  committee  appointed  by 
some  "holiness  people"  of  Oberlin,  Ohio,  we  stopped 
off  at  that  place  and  held  a  series  of  meetings. 
Being  a  college  town,  and  hav^ing  so  many  societies 
and  entertainments  to  take  the  attention  of  the  peo- 
ple, we  concluded  we  should  not  get  much  of  a  hear- 
ing and  that  our  stay  would  be  brief.  On  our  arrival 
we  found  that  the  committee  consisted  of  three 
brethren,  one  a  colored  man,  and  that  they  had  se- 
cured a  hall  in  the  third  story,  in  which  a  society  of 
colored  people  worshiped.  To  our  surprise,  the  hall 
was  crowded  from  the  very  commencement  of  the 
meeting.  The  color  line  in  Oberlin  we  found  to  be 
very  obscure,  white  and  colored  people  attending 
the  same  services,  seated  side  by  side  throughout 
the  hall.  After  a  few  evenings  the  crowd  became  so 
dense  that  fears  for  the  safety  of  the  building  began 
to  be  entertained.  At  the  close  of  an  evening  ser- 
vice Professor  Churchill,  one  of  the  faculty  of  the 
college,  asked  me  why  we  did  not  go  to  the  college 
chapel.     I  told  him  we  would  be  glad  to  do  so  if  it 


Early  Free  Methodism  ^jl 

could  be  secured.  "O,"  he  replied,  "that  can  easily 
be  done."  The  chapel  was  opened  to  us,  and  with 
the  exception  of  one  or  two  evenings  each  week 
when  needed  for  some  of  their  exercises,  our  even- 
ing services  were  held  there.  Our  meeting  ran  some 
three  weeks  or  more,  closing  up  on  Sabbath  evening 
with  a  service  in  Finney's  church.  Mr.  Finney  had 
died  a  few  years  previous,  and  a  Dr.  Brand  was 
pastor  at  this  time.  Mr.  Ronayne  visited  Oberlin 
just  before  the  close  of  our  meeting,  and  after  the 
close  of  our  services  remained  and  gave  a  course  of 
anti-masonic  lectures.  (See  "Ronayne's  Remin- 
iscences," page  419.)  Quite  a  number  were  saved, 
but  we  did  not  deem  it  advisable  to  attempt  to 
organize  a  class.  From  what  I  learned  of  Oberlin 
theology  I  concluded  that  Mr.  Finney,  in  order  to 
correct  the  calvinistic  doctrine  of  a  necessitated  will, 
leaned  to  the  other  extreme,  and  was  finally  resolved 
into  teaching  that  depravity  is  located  altogether  in 
the  will,  and  that  there  is  no  backlying  state  or  con- 
dition of  depravity.  Consequently  to  will  right  is 
to  be  right,  so  a  change  of  will  is  a  change  of  heart, 
therefore  men  are  bound  to  change  their  own  hearts. 
I  learned  that  Mr.  Finney,  in  preaching  on  consecra- 
tion, would  single  out  the  chorister,  and  calling 
him  by  name  exclaim,  "Do  you  realize  what  it  means 
to  lead  in  the  singing  of  praises  to  God?     Get  down  on 


252  Reminiscences  of 

your  knees  and  consecrate  yourself  to  the  Lord."  I 
was  told  he  would  sometimes  preach  the  most  search- 
ing sermons  on  bringing  the  will  into  submission  to 
the  will  of  God,  but  there  seemed  to  be  lacking  the 
one  all  essential  factor  of  faith.  Still  we  found 
there  some  of  the  most  devoted  and  meekest  saints 
we  have  ever  met,  but  these  had  come  to  their  expe- 
rience not  only  by  consecration  but  by  faith  as  well. 
Here  we  met  two  young  students  who  were  twin 
brothers;  their  name  I  believe  was  Fuller.  Later 
one  of  them  died,  and  if  I  mistake  not  the  other  has 
for  years  been  a  missionary  in  India.  At  the  close 
of  our  labors  at  Oberlin  we  went  to  our  home  in 
Michigan.  A  Brother  and  Sister  Osborne,  who  were 
living  at  Saint  Charles  at  the  time  Doctor  Redfield 
held  his  meeting  there,  and  who  were  among  the 
number  of  those  who  came  out  into  the  experience 
of  entire  holiness,  had  removed  to  Burlington,  Iowa, 
at  which  place  Brother  Osborne  with  his  son  was 
running  a  wholesale  paper  warehouse.  Sister 
Osborne  had  written  me  repeatedly  to  visit  Burling- 
ton and  hold  a  meeting.  I  had  written  Sister 
Osborne,  making  an  engagement  for  the  early  spring 
of  1878.  At  the  session  of  the  Illinois  conference  in 
the  fall  of  1877  M.  L.  Vorhies  was  sent  to  Belleville, 
Illinois.  Brother  Vorhies  was  one  of  the  finest  sing- 
ers I  ever  met.    As  Sister  Hart  was  not  to  accom- 


Early  Free  Methodism  253 

pany  me  to  Burlington,  I  wrote  Brother  Vorhies, 
asking  him  to  meet  me  in   Burlington  and  assist  in 
the   meeting.     This    he    readily    consented    to   do. 
When    I    reached    Burlington    I    found   that   Sister 
Osborne  had  secured  a  little  brick  Baptist  church 
on  South  Hill.     The  house  was  unoccupied,  and  we 
had   exclusive   control.     Just   before   my  arrival  at 
Burlington  a  kind  of  a  tramp  preacher  had  put  in  an 
appearance   and   was   quite    anxious   to   begin    the 
meeting,  but  Sister  Osborne  informed  him  that  the 
meeting  would   not   commence  until   Brother  Hart 
came.     The  brother  went  up  to  clean  up  the  church, 
and  came  and  reported  to  Sister  Osborne  that  he  had 
everything  in  readiness  and  that  he  had  dusted  the 
organ  and  placed  it  in  proper  position  for  use.    This 
of  course  gave  him  away,  "for,"  said  Sister  Osborne, 
"if  you  were  a  Free  Methodist  you  would  know  that 
they   do   not   use   organs    in    their   services."     The 
brother  soon  left,  but  he  had  secured  a  few  days' 
board,  which  undoubtedly  with  him  was  the  main 
thing.    In  speaking  of  the  incident  afterwards  Sister 
Osborne's  son  laughingly  remarked,  "Mother  thought 
she  was  entertaining  an  angel  unawares."     Brother 
Vorhies  arrived  in  due  time  and  we  commenced  our 
meeting.    At  our  first  service  we  had  a  congregation 
of  perhaps  a  dozen.     Brother  Vorhies  had  a  railroad 
song  which  he  used  to  sing  with  telling  effect.     He 


254  Reminiscences  of 

sang  that  song,  and  as  there  were  many  railroad  men 
living  in  the  vicinity  of  the  church  the  song  aroused 
the  most  intense  interest,  and  soon  the  house  was 
altogether  too  small  to  accommodate  the  crowds 
which  came  out.  A  young  lady  by  the  name  of 
Streed,  who  was  teaching  in  the  public  schools,  was 
saved.  She  afterwards  married  Rev.  C.  H.  Loomis, 
and  for  years  has  borne  the  burdens  and  shared  in 
the  victories  incident  to  the  itinerancy.  Brother  and 
Sister  Gates  were  members  of  the  Baptist  church, 
but  in  these  meetings  stepped  out  into  the  clear 
light,  and  for  these  intervening  years  have  been 
known  to  our  work  both  in  Iowa  and  Illinois.  An 
old  lady,  a  German  Catholic,  was  persuaded  by  her 
little  grandson  to  attend  the  service  one  evening, 
and  went  home  greatly  stirred,  declaring  that  some- 
one had  told  the  preacher  all  about  her  and  he  had 
talked  it  all  out  in  the  meeting,  and  stoutly  affirming 
that  she  would  go  no  more,  but  the  Spirit  so  worked 
on  her  heart  that  she  came  again,  was  grandly  saved 
and  made  a  substantial  member.  But  time  and 
space  will  not  admit  of  my  mentioning  all  the  sub- 
jects of  saving  grace  and  the  remarkable  incidents 
in  connection  with  the  meeting.  John  Burg,  so 
favorably  known  among  our  people,  was  a  member 
of  the  German  Methodist  church  on  North  Hill. 
When  the  rumor  of  the  meeting  reached  his  ears  he 


Early  Free  Methodism  255 

went  one  evening  to  the  little  Baptist  church,  and 
being  unable  on  account  of  the  crowd  to  get  inside 
stood  on  the  steps  and  listened  to  the  preaching  and 
the  singing,  and  soon  made  his  way  to  the  fount  of 
cleansing.  A  good  society  was  organized.  Brother 
Vorhies  was  duly  installed  as  pastor,  and  almost  a 
constant  revival  kept  up  for  a  year  or  more.  A  fine 
church  building  was  erected,  and  in  the  fall  of  1881, 
as  we  were  on  our  way  to  California  with  our  family, 
we  stopped  off  at  Burlington  and  dedicated  the  house 
to  the  worship  of  God,  Rev.  M.  L.  Vorhies  being 
district  elder  and  Rev.  K.  E.  Hall  pastor.  In  pro- 
cess of  time,  mainly  through  the  influence  of  Brother 
Burg,  a  society  was  raised  up  and  a  church  built  on 
North  Hill.  The  sixth  session  of  the  general  con- 
ference was  held  in  the  church  on  South  Hill  in  the 
fall  of  1882.  The  winter  immediately  following  my 
wife  and  I  went  to  San  Jose,  California,  to  hold 
a  series  of  meetings.  We  rented  a  vacant  store- 
room. I  purchased  lumber,  and  with  the  help  of 
some  sympathizers  made  seats  and  commenced  the 
work.  Brother  James  Allen  and  Brothers  Kennedy, 
Clarkson  and  others  gave  us  encouragement  and 
assisted  materially  in  the  meetings.  We  were  enter- 
tained at  the  home  of  Brother  Allen.  I  paid  out  my 
last  five  dollars  for  material  for  seats,  etc.,  and  in 
appealing  to  Brother  Chesbro  for  funds  stated  the 


256  Reminiscences  of 

fact.  Brother  Chesbro  published  an  appeal  in  the 
paper  embodying  what  I  had  written,  and  good 
Brother  John  Romine,  who  was  an  early  convert  to 
our  work  in  Michigan,  sent  me  that  amount.  The 
evenings  were  damp  and  cold,  but  we  held  meetings 
each  evening,  first  in  the  street  and  then  in  our  hall. 
Ross  Taylor,  son  of  Bishop  William  Taylor,  was 
holding  street  meetings  at  the  same  time  in  connec- 
tion with  revival  services  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  We  would  sometimes  join  forces  in  the 
street,  and  then  give  notice  of  the  meetings  at  the 
church  and  in  the  hall.  One  evening  a  gentleman 
followed  our  little  band  from  the  street  to  the  hall, 
who  was  destined  to  take  quite  a  prominent  part, 
financially  at  least,  in  our  work  in  the  California  con- 
ference. He  was  an  Englishman.  He  took  a  seat 
in  the  back  of  the  hall,  but  paid  strict  attention  to 
the  preaching.  This  man  became  a  regular  attendant 
on  our  services,  but  would  usually  slip  out  at  the 
close  of  meeting,  so  that  we  did  not  have  much 
opportunity  to  converse  or  get  acquainted  with  him. 
We  had  a  number  of  converts,  and  I  gave  notice 
that  on  a  following  Sabbath  morning  I  would  organ- 
ize a  class.  I  occupied  the  hour  of  the  morning  ser- 
vice in  explaining  our  Discipline,  and  then  called 
for  any  who  desired  to  unite  to  present  themselves 
at  the  altar.    To  my  surprise,  about  the  first  one  to 


Early  Free  Methodism  257 

come  was  my  English  friend.    He  wore  a  heavy  gold 
watch-chain,  gold  studs  and  a  large  Masonic  emblem 
in  Kold.     I  judged  that  the  man  was  laboring  under 
a  misapprehension,   and    concluded    he   would   be 
ready  to  retreat  when  I  came  to  insist  on  an  affirma- 
tive answer  to  the  disciplinary  questions.     I  sa.d  to 
him  "I  suppose  you  wish  to  join  on  probation.      He 
at  once  replied,  "No,  I  wish  to  join  in  full  connec- 
tion   I  am  a  member  of  the  Congregational  church 
I  called  his  attention  to  the  questions,  especially  the 
ones  referring  to  the  wearing  of  gold  and  of  being 
connected  with  secret  societies.     He   at   once   an- 
swered, "O,  that  is  all  right.     Nothing  will  trouble 
me  but  the  smoke."     I  felt  relieved,  for  I  saw  the 
«an  knew  what  he  was  doing,  and  I  quickly  replied 
•■O  the  Lord  will  help  you  out  of  that."    The  sequel 
proved  my  words  to  be  true.     He  came  out  to  the 
evening  service  with  the  gold  all  gone.     He  after- 
wards told  me  that  about  three  weeks  after  he  united 
with  the  church,  as   he   was   sitting   in  his  study, 
Satan  suggested  that  it  was  foolishness  for  him  to 
give  up  smoking,  -so."  he  said,  "I  took  down  my 
pipe  for  a  smoke,  but  the  first  whiff  made  me  so  sick 
I  could  smoke  no  more."    Then  came  the  sugges- 
tion, "Brother  Hart  told  you  the  Lord  would  he  p 
you  out  of  that,  and  he  has."    When  I  proposed  to 
the  class  to  send  for  Brother  Vorhies  to  come  from 


258  Reminiscences  of 

Missouri  to  take  charge  of  the  work,  I  inquired  what 
each  would  give  towards  his  expenses.  Brother 
Brown  said,  "I  don't  know  that  I  can  ever  make  a 
Methodist,  I  can't  talk  well  enough,  but  I'll  give 
fifty  dollars  towards  getting  the  brother  out  here." 
The  necessary  amount  was  soon  provided,  and  we 
sent  on  for  Brother  Vorhies  and  family.  He  labored 
here  successfully  until  called  to  his  eternal  reward. 
Before  his  death  Brother  Brown  made  provision  in 
his  will  for  ten  thousand  dollars  to  be  placed  in  my 
hands  in  trust  for  the  work,  but  after  his  decease 
some  of  the  heirs,  claiming  that  the  estate  was  much 
less  than  they  expected,  decided  unless  I  would  con- 
sent to  a  smaller  amount  they  would  contest  the 
will.  To  save  litigation,  and  especially  out  of  regard 
for  the  widow,  I  consented  to  take  less  than  a  third 
of  the  original  amount.  This  is  being  used  as,  in 
my  judgment,  I  deem  best  for  the  advancement  of 
the  cause  of  God.  While  the  growth  of  the  church 
may  not  be  considered  remarkable,  it  is  somewhat 
remarkable,  in  view  of  the  stand  we  take  with  refer- 
ence to  profitable  and  popular  sins,  that  we  have  been 
able  to  maintain  an  existence.  I  am  satisfied,  how- 
ever, if  our  records  of  membership  were  kept  in  the 
loose  and  careless  manner  in  which  the  records  of 
most  of  the  denominations  are,  that  instead  of  being 
set  down  at  about  thirty  thousand  we   should  be 


Early  Free  Methodism  259 

rated  at  nearly  double  that  number.  I  would  be 
pleased  to  make  mention  of  the  noble  men  and 
women  who  in  the  East  and  West  and  North  and 
South  have  fearlessly  taken  their  stand  for  truth  and 
righteousness,  and  who  to-day,  despite  the  scorn  and 
contempt  of  carnal  professors  and  worldlings,  are 
ready  at  the  bugle  call  of  duty  to  rally  around  the 
cross.  From  personal  knowledge  of  our  people  I 
unhesitatingly  declare  that  we  have  within  our  pale 
some  of  the  truest  and  brightest  saints  by  which  the 
church  of  God  has  been  graced  since  the  days  of 
the  martyrs.  May  we,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  be 
enabled  to  hold  inviolate  the  heritage  received  from 
the  fathers.     Amen! 


THE  END. 


COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY   LIBRARIES 

This  book  is  due  on  the  date  indicated  below,  or  at  the 
expiration  of  a  definite  period  after  the  date  of  borrowing,  as 
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the  Librarian  in  charge. 

DATE  BORROWED 

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DATE  BORROWED 

DATE  DUE 

C2e(l149)  100M 

938.6 


H25 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 


0044150733 


BRITTLE  op  not 
PHOTOCOPV 


